About 50 Ann Arbor residents
and University of Michigan
students gathered in the Ann
Arbor District Library to learn
about the future of artificial
intelligence on Friday night.
The talk, titled “Artificial
Intelligence
and
Finance,”
featured Engineering professors
Rada Mihalcea and Michael
Wellman, who discussed how
AI will affect trading in the
financial world.
Mihalcea
started
the
conversation by asking Wellman
about his interest in AI and what
keeps him in the field.
“Even in the 1980s, it was
clear to me that the future of
the world was going to be the
future of intelligent machines,”
Wellman said. “It was pretty
inevitable that computers would
eventually be able to do some of
the things that people do, and
maybe even do it better.”
According
to
Wellman,
the
2008
financial
crisis
demonstrates
why
AI
is
important when it comes to
finance. He said AI would
not repeat the same problems
experienced a little more than a
decade ago because algorithms
can forego human error.
“We know what happens
when a financial system does
not work,” Wellman said. “In
2008, we experienced that when
things don’t quite match up in
the financial system, the whole
economy goes for a tailspin.
The financial crisis of 2008
— we lost trillions of dollars
of productivity, even though
there was no natural disaster,
no resources were destroyed …
it was just a miscoordination
of decisions that people were
making.”
Wellman
said
many
companies may have already
started
algorithmic
trading,
which is when an automated
trading system uses computer
programs hardwired with a
specific
set
of
instructions
to place a trade. During this
process, decisions are made very
quickly.
“We talk about decisions being
made in the blink of an eye,”
Wellman said. “Well, the blink
of an eye is 300 milliseconds, so
computers can make dozens or
hundreds of decisions back and
forth in that time per trade and
that is a key reason why it’s been
inevitable that computers would
take over a lot of activity because
they can react to information so
much faster than people can.”
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, January 27, 2020
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
The second annual Women
Who
Launch
symposium,
held Friday morning in the
Ross
School
of
Business,
focused on women working
in venture capital who have
founded their own successful
companies.
Women Who Launch is
an
organization
founded
at the Business School that
focuses
on
equal
gender
representation and promoting
an equitable environment at
the University of Michigan,
particularly for those who
have moved into their own
business fields.
The
symposium
was
comprised of several events
with the second half of the
day featuring four female
venture capitalists.
The first to speak was
Natalie Fratto, vice president
of
firmwide
strategy
at
Goldman Sachs. She also
delivered a prominent TED
Talk on the importance of
adaptability in July 2019.
Fratto is in the process of
building
the
organization
“Launch with GS,” Goldman
Sachs’s
$500
million
investment strategy which
aims
to
create
success
through diversity.
“Through
Launch
With
GS, Goldman Sachs aims to
increase access to capital
and facilitate connections for
women, Blacks, Latinos and
other diverse entrepreneurs
and investors,” Fratto said.
Fratto said founders should
be able to stand out when
describing their company and
pitching it to others.
“I think great founders
have the ability to have an
answer and get their talking
points out no matter what the
question is,” Fratto said.
CAMPUS LIFE
Around 1,200 celebrate new campus space for offices, resources and study
ALYSSA MCMURTRY
Daily Staff Reporter
Raenaurd Turpin, executive
chief
engineer
of
Boeing
Space Systems, spoke to about
50
aerospace
engineering
students at the Bob and Betty
Beyster Building on Friday
afternoon.
Turpin spoke to students
about what a career in the
aerospace engineering field
looks like, and highlighted
current Boeing projects.
George F. Halow, visiting
professor
of
aerospace
engineering, set up the event
as part of a program in which
a guest lecturer visits the
classroom every Friday. In
addition to his own students,
the event was also open to
Davis
Aerospace
Technical
High
School
students
interested in gaining exposure
to the field.
Turpin told students there
is no one path to becoming
an aerospace engineer, noting
that he had previously been a
mechanical engineer before
his work at Boeing.
He
also
discussed
the
projects Boeing Space Systems
is currently working on.
Aerospace
expert talks
career with
undergrads
RESEARCH
Chief engineer Raenaurd
Turpin shares newest
Boeing projects, goals
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
About 200 people attended the
South Asian Awareness Network’s
“Electrify” conference at the
Michigan League on Saturday
to discuss pressing social issues,
create innovative solutions and
understand existing movements
for social change in various South
Asian communities.
The
SAAN
conference
consisted of a combination of
small discussion sessions and
speaker events. Many prominent
figures fighting for social change
in the South Asian community
came
to
speak
about
their
experiences with marginalized
groups,
immigration
and
solidarity
movements.
These
speakers
included
journalist
Tania
Rashid,
entrepreneur
Ani Sanyal and Michigan State
University psychiatry professor
Farha Abbasi.
LSA sophomore Saachi Mittal
served as a facilitator at the
SAAN conference by leading
small-group discussions about
various social issues, including
ethnocentrism, colorism, sexual
health stigma and barriers in
cross-cultural marriages.
South Asian students
hope to create community,
encourage positive change
NEETI BHUTADA
Daily Staff Reporter
2nd annual ‘Women Who Launch’
event highlights venture capitalists
DELANEY DAHLSTROM
Daily Staff Reporter
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 57
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A
OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A
CROSSWORD................6A
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
Conference
brings about
dialogue on
social issues
In celebration of its opening
earlier this month, the College
of Literature, Science and the
Arts building hosted the LSA
Homewarming Party for LSA
students Friday afternoon. The
event, attended by about 1,200
students, featured Reggie the
Campus Corgi, as well as free food
and Michigan gear.
Some of the changes to the
building included a new second
floor with desks and conference
rooms. The first floor has additional
space for studying and student
collaboration. LSA senior Cassidy
Guros, sociology and women’s
studies major, is in the LSA
building often because it houses
the Department of Sociology.
Guros
noted
the
differences
between the building before and
after it underwent renovations.
“(The change) is like night and
day,” Guros said. “It makes me feel
like I’m even more appreciated as
a student because I have a space
that’s dedicated to me and my
studies.”
LSA Dean Anne Curzan, whose
office has been in the LSA building
throughout the renovation, also
attended the event, taking the
opportunity to speak to students in
a more informal setting.
“We hope this space will be
a home base for LSA students,”
Curzan said in an interview with
The Daily. “When you ask students
‘Where is LSA?’ they will often say
it’s kind of everywhere, which is
true. We also wanted students to
feel like there was a center, there
was a home base for them to go,
so this space is designed to be a
center for some key resources for
students.”
‘Homewarming’ party welcomes
student body to new LSA building
DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily
Professors Michael Wellman and Rada Mihalcea discuss the role of artificial intelligence in finance at Friday Night Al series in the Ann Arbor Downtown Library Friday evening.
See LSA, Page 2A
Symposium at
Ross features
work of female
entrepreneurs
‘U’ professors discuss impact of
artificial intelligence in finance
Community members ask about effect on employment, developing countries
IULIA DOBRIN
Daily Staff Reporter
See AI, Page 2A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
SOPHIA AFENDOULIS/Daily
Students and faculty celebrate the new renovations of the LSA Building with a Homewarming Party at the LSA Building Friday afternoon.
See BOEING, Page 2A
Gut punch
Isaiah Livers goes down in return from
injury, and Michigan proceeds to lose a
key game to Illinois at the tail end.
» Page 1B
SPORTSMONDAY