Send us a textSupport the showVideo version of this episode is available hereRecorded on Sep 5, 2023 in Oxford, UKHave you ever wondered if we can answer seemingly unanswerable questions? Jakob's journey into causality started when he was 12 years old. Deeply dissatisfied with what adults had to offer when asked about the sources of causal knowledge, he started to look for the answers on his own. He studied philosophy, politics and economics to find his place at UCL's Centre for Artificial Intelligence, where he met his future PhD advisor, Prof. Ricardo Silva. At the center of Jakob's interests lies decision-making under partial knowledge.He's passionate about partial identification, sensitivity analysis, and optimal experiments, yet he's far from being just a theoretician.He implements causal ideas he finds promising in the context of material discovery at Matterhorn Studio, earlier he worked on sensitivity analysis for quasi-experimental methods at Spotify.Want to learn what a 1000-years-old church, communism and Justin Bieber have to do with causality?Tune in! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ About The GuestJakob Zeitler is a researcher at Centre for Artificial Intelligence at University College London (UCL) and a Head of R&D at Matterhorn Studio. His research focuses on partial identification, sensitivity analysis and optimal experimentation. He works on solutions for automated material design. Connect with Jakob: - Jakob Zeitler on Twitter/X- Jakob Zeitler on LinkedIn- Jakob Zeitler's web pageAbout The HostAleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality.Connect with Alex: - Alex on the Internet LinksSupport the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4

Alicia Curth, a machine learning researcher specializing in causal machine learning, discusses topics such as the double descent phenomenon, conditional average treatment effect estimators, challenges in working with Kate models, curiosity-driven studies, sensitivity analysis in causal research, and contrasting approaches in machine learning and statistics/econometrics.

Send us a textSupport the showVideo version available on YouTubeRecorded on Aug 29, 2023 in München, GermanyCan we meaningfully talk about causality in dynamical systems?Some people are puzzled when it comes to dynamical systems and the idea of causation.Dynamical systems well-known in physics, social sciences, and biology are often thought of as a special family of systems, where it might be difficult to meaningfully talk about causal direction. Naftali Weinberger devoted his career to examining the relationships between system dynamics, causality and the phenomena known broadly as "complexity". We explore what does "intervention" mean in a dynamical system and we deconstruct common intuitions about causality and system's equilibrium. We discuss the importance of time scales when defining a causal system, analyze what could have inspired Bertrand Russell to say that causality is a "relic of a bygone age" and ponder the phenomenon of emergence. Finally, Naftali shares his advice for those of us just starting exploring the uncharted territory of causal inference and discovery. Warning: this conversation might bend your sense of reality. Use with caution! Ready to dive in? About The GuestNaftali Weinberger, PhD is a Researcher at Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy at LMU. His research is focused on causality, dynamical systems and fairness. He works with scientists, researchers and philosophers around the globe helping them address challenges in diverse fields like climate change, psychometrics, fairness and more. Connect with Naftali: Naftali on Twitter/XNaftali on BlueSky Naftali's web pageAbout The HostAleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality.Connect with Alex:Support the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4

Daniel Ebenhöch, a lead engineer with a fascinating background in child experimentation, discusses the pivotal role of causality in autonomous driving. He shares insights on the challenges of developing causal models and counterfactual reasoning. A key focus is on optimizing decision-making to enhance safety while navigating corner cases. Ebenhöch highlights the importance of collaboration between diverse scientific disciplines and provides advice for newcomers to the field, emphasizing curiosity and adaptability as essential traits.

Send us a textSupport the show Video version available on YouTubeRecorded on Aug 25, 2023 in Berlin, Germany Is Marketing Intrinsically Causal? After spending 5 years talking to mathematicians, Juan decided to look for new opportunities that would offer him more immediate impact on the world. Little did he know that this journey will lead him to become a Senior Data Scientist at Wolt - one of the global food delivery leaders with operations in 25 countries. In this episode we discuss Juan's journey towards data science, how causality was close to his heart from the very beginning and why starting simple is a good thing. Juan shares how his background in physics and advanced geometry helps him tackle causal problems he faces daily in his work in the fields of marketing and pricing. "It's fundamental for decision-making" - he says when asked about the future of causal modeling and causal AI. We discuss the consequences of ignoring the causal structure in marketing problems. Finally, Juan shares how inaccurate world models contributed to a distaste for wearing gloves by someone dear to him. Ready to dive in? About The Guest Juan Orduz, Phd is a Senior Data Scientist at Wolt. He is a blogger and an open source contributor. Juan holds a PhD in geometric analysis. Connect with Juan: - Juan on LinkedIn - Juan on Twitter/X - Juan's Blog  About The Host Aleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality. Connect with Alex: - Alex on the Internet Links (see here for the full list) Causal Bandits Team Project Coordinator: Taiba Malik Video Editors: Navneet S.Support the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4

Send us a textSupport the showVideo version of this episode is available on YouTubeRecorded on Aug 24, 2023 in Berlin, GermanyDoes Causality Align with Bayesian Modeling? Structural causal models share a conceptual similarity with the models used in probabilistic programming. However, there are important theoretical differences between the two. Can we bridge them in practice? In this episode, we explore Thomas' journey into causality and discuss how his experience in Bayesian modeling accelerated his understanding of basic causal concepts. We delve into new causally-oriented developments in PyMC - an open-source Python probabilistic programming framework co-authored by Thomas - and discuss practical aspects of causal modeling drawing from Thomas' experience. "It's great to be wrong, and this is how we learn" - says Thomas, emphasizing the gradual and iterative nature of his and his team's successful projects. Further down the road, we take a look at the opportunities and challenges in uncertainty quantification, briefly discussing probabilistic programming, Bayesian deep learning and conformal prediction perspectives. Lastly, Thomas shares his personal journey from studying computer science, bioinformatics, and neuroscience, to becoming a major open-source contributor and an independent entrepreneur.Ready to dive in?About The GuestThomas Wiecki, Phd is a co-author of PyMC - one of the most recognizable Python probabilistic programming frameworks - and the CEO of PyMC Labs. Connect with Thomas: Thomas Wiecki on LinkedInThomas Wiecki on Twitter/XAbout The HostAleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent machine learning researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality.Connect with Alex: Alex on the Internet: https://bit.ly/aleksander-molak LinksFull list of linkSupport the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4

Send us a textSupport the show`from causality import solution`Recorded on Sep 04, 2023 in London, United KingdomA Python package that would allow us to address an arbitrary causal problem with a one-liner does not yet exist.Fortunately, there are other ways to implement and deploy causal solutions at scale. In this episode, Andrew shares his journey into causality and gives us a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of his everyday work at causaLens. We discuss new ideas that Andrew and his team use to enhance the capabilities of available open-source causal packages, how they strive to build and maintain a highly modularized and open platform. Finally, we talk about the importance of team work and what Andrew's parents did to make him feel nurtured & supported. Ready? About The GuestAndrew Lawrence is the Director of Research at causaLens (https://causalens.com/) Connect with Andrew: Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-r-lawrence/ About The HostAleksander (Alex) Molak is an independent ML researcher, educator, entrepreneur and a best-selling author in the area of causality.Connect with Alex: Alex on the Internet: https://bit.ly/aleksander-molakLinksCode and BlogsDARA open-source framework (https://bit.ly/3Ql1VhF) causaLens GitHub (https://bit.ly/3QmoUJz) causaLens Blog (https://bit.ly/46TieJF) VideosBrady Neal Introduction to CausalityBooksBishop (2006) - Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning Molak (2023) - Causal Inference and Discovery in PythonPearl & Mackenzie (2019) - The Book of Why Support the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4

Send us a textSupport the showVideo version of this episode available on YouTubeRecorded on Aug 14, 2023 in Frankfurt, GermanyAre Large Language Models (LLMs) causal? Some researchers have shown that advanced models like GPT-4 can perform very well on certain causal benchmarks. At the same time, from the theoretical point of view it's highly unlikely that these models can learn causal structures. Is it possible that large language models are not causal, but talk causality? In our conversation we explore this question from the point of view of the formalism proposed by Matej and his colleagues in their "Causal Parrots" paper. We also discuss Matej's journey from the dream of becoming a hacker to a successful AI and then causality researcher. Ready to dive in?Links EventsCausality Discussion Group (https://discuss.causality.link/) Eastern European Machine Learning Summer School (https://www.eeml.eu/home) Videos Prof. Moritz Helmstaedter on connectomicsBooks Molak (2023) - Causal Inference & Discovery in Python Pearl & Mackenzie (2019) - The Book of WhyPapers For full list of papers see the episode's description here.Support the showCausal Bandits PodcastCausal AI || Causal Machine Learning || Causal Inference & DiscoveryWeb: https://causalbanditspodcast.comConnect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandermolak/Join Causal Python Weekly: https://causalpython.io The Causal Book: https://amzn.to/3QhsRz4