Eric Horvitz

Biography
Eric Horvitz, MD, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft where he leads initiatives at the intersection of science, technology, and society, with emphases on artificial intelligence, biosciences, and healthcare. His research contributions have advanced AI through innovations in perception, reasoning, and decision-making under uncertainty.Dr. Horvitz is known for his contributions to AI theory and practice, with a focus on principles and applications of AI amidst the complexities of the open world. His direction-setting research efforts include harnessing probability and utility in machine learning and reasoning, developing models of bounded rationality, constructing systems that perceive and act via interpreting multisensory streams of information, and pioneering principles and mechanisms for supporting human-AI collaboration and complementarity. His efforts and collaborations have led to fielded systems in healthcare, transportation, ecommerce, operating systems, and aerospace.Beyond his scientific work, he has pursued programs, organizations, and studies on ethics, values, and safety with applications and influences of AI. He founded and chairs Microsofts Aether committee on AI, effects, and ethics in engineering and research. He established the One Hundred Year Study on AI(opens in new tab) at Stanford University and co-founded and served as board chair of the Partnership on AI(opens in new tab) (PAI). He served as a Congressionally appointed commissioner on the National Security Commission on AI(opens in new tab), where he chaired the line of effort on ethical and trustworthy AI.Dr. Horvitz received the Feigenbaum Prize and the Allen Newell Prize for his fundamental contributions to the science and practice of AI. He received the CHI Academy honor for his work at the intersection of AI and human-computer interaction. He has been elected fellow of the National Academy of Engineering(opens in new tab) (NAE), the Association of Computing Machinery (opens in new tab)(ACM), Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence(opens in new tab) (AAAI), the American Association for the Advancement of Science(opens in new tab) (AAAS), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences(opens in new tab), the American College of Medical Informatics(opens in new tab), and the American Philosophical Society(opens in new tab).Dr. Horvitz currently serves on the advisory boards of the Allen Institute for AI (opens in new tab)(Ai2) and Stanfords Institute for Human-Centered AI(opens in new tab) (HAI). He served as a member of the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology(opens in new tab) (PCAST), president of the AAAI, as a member of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board(opens in new tab) (CSTB) and Computing Community Consortium(opens in new tab) (CCC), and on advisory committees for the National Science Foundation(opens in new tab) (NSF), National Institutes of Health(opens in new tab) (NIH), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(opens in new tab) (DARPA).He received Ph.D. and M.D. degrees at Stanford University. Before moving into the role of Chief Scientific Officer, he served as director of Microsoft Research overseeing research labs in Redmond, Washington; Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York City, New York; Montreal, Canada; Cambridge, United Kingdom; and Bangalore, India. More information can be found on his home page(opens in new tab). A selected list of publications can be found here(opens in new tab).