Margaret Fleck and David Forsyth are computer science professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).
In this episode, we have the ultimate computer science power couple: Margaret Fleck and David Forsyth. Together, they bring a rare mix of academic brilliance, humor, and a knack for keeping students hooked—plus, they’re married, which only adds to the chemistry.
Margaret Fleck is all about practical teaching. With a background from MIT and Yale, she could easily go the high-theory route, but instead, she’s focused on making learning accessible. Her courses are known for their clear structure, simple materials, and frequent small assignments to keep students engaged. She’s developed and reworked some of UIUC’s most essential computer science courses, like Artificial Intelligence (CS 440) and Discrete Structures (CS 173)—and she even wrote textbooks and created video lectures to help students nail down tough concepts. If you’re ever struggling to understand a CS topic, Fleck’s teaching style is like a breath of fresh air.
Then there’s David Forsyth—a big name in computer vision, who brings wizard-level knowledge to the table. Think of him as the Dumbledore of computer science, not just because he actually looks a bit like him (beard and all) but because he’s a mentor who doesn’t just find the best students—he shapes them into the best versions of themselves. Forsyth has published over 130 papers, co-authored the widely-used textbook Computer Vision: A Modern Approach, and even served as a leader for key conferences in the field. His latest research digs into machine learning, graphics, and making AI smarter in more human-like ways, and he’s often training models on his own GPU, pouring the same energy into his work that he does into teaching.
These two aren’t just here to talk about computer science, though.
They go deep into some unfiltered opinions on college life, like why the whole “passion” narrative might be overrated and why more students need to be rebels if they want to truly make the most out of their time at university.
They also reveal their own college experiences: Forsyth shares how he made it through tricky subjects (last-minute cramming, anyone?), while Fleck talks about how she keeps students learning without all the usual academic pressure.
You’ll find out about how Fleck and Forsyth first met—a story that’s both geeky and endearing, showing that love can definitely bloom in the halls of academia.
Whether you’re into AI, wondering about college life, or just want to know how two brilliant minds balance work, love, and pushing boundaries, this is one conversation you won’t want to miss.
EPISODE LINKS:
Margaret Fleck's Website: https://mfleck.cs.illinois.edu/
David Forsyth's Website: http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/
Finding Naked People: http://luthuli.cs.uiuc.edu/~daf/papers/naked.pdf
OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
0:54 - How to Maximize College
5:46 - Leetcode & Passion is a scam
11:32 - Forsyth Still Struggles with Induction
15:27 - Why College Needs Rebels
25:24 - Universities Won't Change Your Life—You Will
30:24 - Is College Curriculum Broken?
35:16 - Apathy in College
38:18 - Pushing Limits in College
43:24 - How Forsyth Crammed for Exams
44:25 - Love: How Forsyth & Fleck First Met ❤️❤️
50:02 - AI and the Limits of LLMs
1:00:54 - ChatGPT: Homework Solver or Google's Nightmare?
1:15:12 - Worry Less, Focus More
1:21:25 - Diving & Music
1:27:01 - The Hardest Problem in Computer Vision
1:29:15 - Advice for Young People
🚥Overrated or Underrated Section 🚥
1:33:42 - 🫖 Tea
1:34:07 - 😋 UIUC Reddit
1:36:22 - 🤿 Underwater Diving
1:39:33 - 🧙♀️ Salem Witch Trials
👥Audience Q&A👥
1:42:21 - Morality of AI: Can Corporations Truly Be Ethical?
1:44:59 - Is Mimicking Biology the Key to Solving Intelligence?
1:47:52- Convolutional Neural Networks: Math Over Biology
1:49:35 - Why Images Aren't Just Matrices
1:51:50 - Will AI Change How We Make and Appreciate Art?
1:57:47 - Closing Words
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