I am a senior studying Computer Science (with a minor in Cognitive and Brain Sciences) at the Tufts University School of Engineering. I am interested in machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as their embodiment in autonomous robots and web agents.
In most of computer science, the program is viewed as a short-lived, unchanging, and essentially stupid mechanism. A compiler, for instance, is carefully engineered by a human designer, and all the intelligence it exhibits belongs to the designer, not to the compiler itself. When given unexpected input, the compiler will crash, and it will not learn to avoid the same error on the next run.
In contrast, even an ant has some form of memory and will learn to avoid dangerous chemicals. A big part of the ant's intelligence is still built in (by evolution). But unlike the compiler, the ant is an agent able to increase its own intelligence through experience. I think that learning is the most interesting thing that living agents do, and my goal is to teach computer programs to do the same.
You can browse my research, projects, and publications, see samples of my coursework, or download a copy of my résumé.
