Yigal Arens: Building the Systems That Make AI Work
Yigal Arens’s path to artificial intelligence began with a leap of faith. He signed up for a computer science summer camp in Israel without knowing what programming was. That spark led him from mathematics at Berkeley to the emerging world of AI, where he became part of a wave of researchers drawn to the power of machines that could reason and learn.
Arens found his home at USC’s Information Sciences Institute, where he helped pioneer the field of information integration, teaching computers how to connect data across fragmented systems and laying the groundwork for smarter, more connected technologies. A steadfast presence at ISI for decades, Arens has shaped key areas of AI research and nurtured the institute’s collaborative, self-sustaining culture. What defines his work is a steady resilience and a commitment to the behind-the-scenes systems that enable everything else to function.
