David Silver (computer scientist)
{{short description|Computer scientist and researcher}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name =
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100}}
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age |1976}}
| birth_place =
| other_names =
| siglum =
| pronounce =
| citizenship =
| nationality =
| fields = Artificial intelligence
Machine learning
Reinforcement learning
Planning
Computer Games
| workplaces = Google Deepmind
University College London
Elixir Studios
| patrons =
| education =
| alma_mater = University of Cambridge (BA)
University of Alberta (PhD)
| thesis_title = Reinforcement learning and simulation-based search in computer Go
| thesis_url = https://dx.doi.org/10.7939/R39D8T
| thesis_year = 2009
| doctoral_advisor =
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = AlphaGo
AlphaZero
AlphaStar
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2011)
ACM Prize in Computing (2019)
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| parents =
| father =
| mother =
| relatives =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
David Silver (born 1976) is a principal research scientist at Google DeepMind and a professor at University College London. He has led research on reinforcement learning with AlphaGo, AlphaZero and co-lead on AlphaStar.{{Google scholar id}}{{cite Q|Q72988805}}
Education
He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge,The Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 July 1998 graduating in 1997 with the Addison-Wesley award, and having befriended Demis Hassabis whilst at Cambridge.{{Cite web|last=Shead|first=Sam|title=David Silver: The unsung hero and intellectual powerhouse at Google DeepMind|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/david-silver-the-unsung-hero-at-google-deepmind-2016-3|access-date=2020-09-26|website=businessinsider.com}} Silver returned to academia in 2004 at the University of Alberta to study for a PhD on reinforcement learning,{{MathGenealogy}} where he co-introduced the algorithms used in the first master-level 9×9 Go programs and graduated in 2009.{{Cite thesis|degree=PhD |first=David |last=Silver |year=2009 |title=Reinforcement Learning and Simulation-Based Search in Computer Go |url=https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/12fc0cb8-c990-4759-8fa1-5e12af33116a |language=en |doi=10.7939/R39D8T|oclc=575410609|website=ualberta.ca|publisher=University of Alberta}}{{cite journal |author=Sylvain Gelly |author2=David Silver |year=2008 |title=Achieving Master Level Play in 9 × 9 Computer Go |url=https://www.davidsilver.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/master-level-go.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the Twenty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence}} His version of program MoGo (co-authored with Sylvain Gelly) was one of the strongest Go programs as of 2009.{{cite book |title=Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach |title-link=Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2009 |edition=3rd |author=Stuart J. Russell |author2=Peter Norvig}}
Career and research
After graduating from university, Silver co-founded the video games company Elixir Studios, where he was CTO and lead programmer, receiving several awards for technology and innovation.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/05/google-alpha-go-ai/|title=What the AI Behind AlphaGo Can Teach Us About Being Human|newspaper=Wired.com|access-date=17 May 2016}}
Silver was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2011, and subsequently became a lecturer at University College London.{{Cite web|url=http://www.csml.ucl.ac.uk/people/silver/|title=CSML {{!}} David Silver|website=ucl.ac.uk|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-27|archive-date=24 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424012630/http://www.csml.ucl.ac.uk/people/silver/}} His lectures on Reinforcement Learning are available on YouTube.{{cite web |title=RL Course by David Silver - Lecture 1: Introduction to Reinforcement Learning |date=May 13, 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pWv7GOvuf0&list=PL7-jPKtc4r78-wCZcQn5IqyuWhBZ8fOxT |via=YouTube }} Silver consulted for Google DeepMind from its inception, joining full-time in 2013.
His recent work has focused on combining reinforcement learning with deep learning, including a program that learns to play Atari games directly from pixels.{{cite Q|Q27907579}} Silver led the AlphaGo project, culminating in the first program to defeat a top professional player in the full-size game of Go.{{cite Q|Q28005460}} AlphaGo subsequently received an honorary 9 Dan Professional Certification; and won the Cannes Lion award for innovation.{{Cite news|url=http://adage.com/article/special-report-cannes-lions/google-deepmind-alphago-wins-cannes-innovation-grand-prix/304644/|title=Google DeepMind AlphaGo in U.K. Wins Innovation Grand Prix|access-date=2017-05-27|language=en}} He then led development of AlphaZero, which used the same AI to learn to play Go from scratch (learning only by playing itself and not from human games) before learning to play chess and shogi in the same way, to higher levels than any other computer program.
Silver is among the most published members of staff at Google DeepMind, with over 200,000 citations and has an h-index of 97 according to Google Scholar.
=Awards and honours=
Silver was awarded the 2019 ACM Prize in Computing for breakthrough advances in computer game-playing.{{cite web |last1=Ormond |first1=Jim |title=ACM Prize in Computing Awarded to AlphaGo Developer: David Silver Recognized for Breakthrough Advances in Computer Game-Playing |url=https://www.acm.org/media-center/2020/april/acm-prize-2019 |publisher=acm.org|access-date=2020-04-02}}
In 2021, Silver was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) for his contributions to Deep Q-Networks and AlphaGo.{{cite web |title=Royal Society elects outstanding new Fellows and Foreign Members |url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2021/05/new-fellows-announcement-2021/ |publisher=royalsociety.org|access-date=2021-06-08}} He was elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Elected AAAI Fellows |url=https://aaai.org/about-aaai/aaai-awards/the-aaai-fellows-program/elected-aaai-fellows/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=AAAI |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, David}}
Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Category:Go (game) researchers
Category:University of Alberta alumni
Category:Academics of University College London
Category:Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence