“Where do We Come From? Where are We Going?”: that’s how João Gama – one of the most-cited scientists in the world – said “goodbye” to his teaching activity

35 years separate the beginning and the end of the teaching career of João Gama, one of the most-cited scientists in the world. The INESC TEC researcher, who presented his Last Lecture on November 25, said “goodbye” to the classrooms of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto (FEP). The motto? “Where do We Come From? Where are we going?” – the culmination of a recognised academic career, particularly in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

The term “Artificial Intelligence” appeared for the first time in 1956. “I was two years old”, said the one who would prove to be one of the world’s leading experts in the field. And he managed to become one of the most influential men in an area full of “Springs and valleys of disappointment” over the years.

According to João Gama, the times we live in today are a new springtime for AI. Over the course of about an hour, the scientist talked about the evolution of AI, his career, the people who were part of it, and the projects in which he participated as a researcher at INESC TEC, leading to vital advances in the state of the art.

During the first part of the session, João Gama shared many stories about the results achieved for more than three decades: since the European Statlog project in 1991 (focused on learning algorithms), to more recent ones, like FailStopper – which allowed to detect the occurrence of failures in public transportation vehicles – and EMERITUS, an endeavour that uses AI to improve the investigation capacity in environmental crimes.

“Where are we going?” – this year’s Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry seem, in fact, to reinforce the new “AI spring”; João Gama had already shared his outlook on this topic, with a bold statement: “AI won the 2024’s Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.” The INESC TEC researcher spoke of the benefits, emphasised by the Nobel prizes – “AI is the revenge of the working class” – and of the harms, namely concerning cybersecurity crimes. However, and when it comes to risks, AI can be used as a viable solution to address them.

Before concluding his lecture, he thanked all those who contributed to his journey – and also shared their faces. “I didn’t do it by myself; I must thank my teams and my students above all.”

“The man who never wanted titles, but who was always one of the best.”

Words by Paulo Novais, full professor at the School of Engineering of the University of Minho, and one of the eight people chosen to praise the professor in the first part of the lecture. Either at national or international level, all emphasised the work of the teacher who coordinated the national strategy for Artificial Intelligence, at the request of the previous government.

José Manuel Mendonça, former Chairman of the Board of Directors at INESC TEC, was responsible for hosting the ceremony.

The interview by the University of Porto to João Gama – about his Last Lecture, containing more information about the academic and life path of this scientist – is available here.

The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC and UP-FEP.