Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Mohammad Ahmadpoor, Kellogg School of Management "The Dual Frontier: Patentable Inventions and Prior Scientific Advance"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level Chambers Hall
Details
The Dual Frontier: Patentable Inventions and Prior Scientific Advance
Speaker:
Mohammad Ahmadpoor - Postdoctoral Fellow, Strategy Department, Kellogg School of Management
Talk Abstract:
Mohammad Ahmadpoor 1 Benjamin F. Jones 1,2
1. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
2. National Bureau of Economic Research
We build a new knowledge map, linking 4.8 million U.S. patents to 32 million research articles in the Web of Science, to determine the minimum citation distance between patentable inventions and prior scientific advances. The distance metric provides a new typology of impact to characterize fields, funders, institutions, and individuals. The metric can also inform long-standing ideas about the nature of scientific and technological progress. We find that the integrated citation network encompasses the majority of both patents and papers. Yet the linkages are typically indirect, peaking 3 degrees (papers) and 2 degrees (patents) from the patent-paper boundary, and fields vary enormously. The findings of majority connectivity, indirect connectivity, and the prevalence of university-to-firm linkages across the paper-patent boundary are consistent with some core conceptions of the “linear model– of science. However, consistent with more recent theories of scientific and technological progress, the same individual often bridges the patent-paper boundary, and advances along the patent-paper boundary appear strikingly more impactful within their respective domains.
Live Stream:
To join the Meeting: bluejeans.com/8474912527
To join via Browser: bluejeans.com/8474912527/browser
Time
Wednesday, January 11, 2017 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Mayank Agrawal, Proof of Human "The Invisible Turing Test for the Internet"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
Mayank Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO, Proof of Human
Title:
Proof of Human: the Invisible Turing Test for the Internet
Abstract:
This presentation introduces the Process Turing Test, a new framework for distinguishing humans from AI that goes beyond linguistic output to analyze behavioral dynamics. As LLMs routinely pass text-based Turing Tests, we need methods that probe the underlying architecture of intelligence through perception, control, and decision-making patterns. Using process tracing data from canonical cognitive tasks, we demonstrate how behavioral embeddings capture computational signatures unique to human cognition. This provides robust proof-of-personhood that resists adversarial attacks while revealing fundamental principles about how humans and machines process information differently.
Speaker Bio:
Mayank Agrawal is the co-founder and CEO of Proof of Human, a research and deployment company building the proof-of-human layer in digital identity. The company develops high-impact research and translates that work into systems for bot detection, fraud prevention, and continuous authentication. Mayank’s work focuses on new approaches to distinguishing humans from AI through behavioral and cognitive signals. He earned his PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience from Princeton University, where he studied computational models of human decision-making with Jonathan Cohen, Tom Griffiths, and Nathaniel Daw. His research spans cognitive science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, with work published in Science, PNAS, and Psychological Review. He previously studied Computer Science and Philosophy at Swarthmore College.
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: https://northwestern.zoom.us/j/96392420891
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, networks, and artificial intelligence. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)