The Idea Machine

Learning at Harvard and MIT in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Background

One of my favorite books is The Idea Factory: Learning to Think at MIT by Pepper White. It tells Pepper’s story as a student earning his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at MIT in the 1980s, capturing his experiences as a student and as a researcher, including his constant feelings of inadequacy. Forty years later, as a Master’s student at Harvard conducting research in MIT’s Brain and Cognitive Science Department, these posts are my stories, inspired by Pepper and in tribute to those who came before. To highlight my favorite quote, “If I could see […] an insight, a new way of looking at [a problem] that would maybe, just maybe, find its way into future generations […] In the Eiffel tower of technology, I would be a rivet.”

NeurIPS Acceptance

My paper was accepted at NeurIPS 2020! My first paper, and boy does it feel good. The morning of, my mother asked me when results were scheduled to be released, and I told her 8 pm Pacific Time. She told me I must be wrong, and when I stood my ground, she started to argue the point.

TODO

Scholarship Applications

I’ve been working on scholarship applications, and one of the scholarship questions has absolutely brilliant questions. They state at the onset that their questions are intended to help you reflect and that they hope you find the exercise enjoyable. My favorite question asks you to list 8 improbable (unlikely but true) facts about yourself. I haven’t decided on my final set of facts, but these are the candidates I’m currently thinking of:

• I chose a Regents Scholarship at UC Davis over a Regents Scholarship at UC Berkeley Engineering
• I placed 3rd in Uber’s company-wide, week-long Machine Learning Hackathon while skiing in Austria
• I traded dinner with Dara Khosrowshahi for a request that he consider promoting my teammate
• I never forget a face after interacting with a person for more than five minutes
• I started and finished my Eagle Scout Project (organizing a day long public speaking workshop for ~90 middle and high school students) in 9 days
• I co-hosted a public affairs radio show called Davis Now! to discuss issues affecting the Davis college community including sexual assault, public intoxication, and college athletics
• I cry every time I heard the songs Vera and Bring The Boys Back Home by Pink Floyd
• I can recite the opening monologue of the character V from V for Vendetta
• I was the first man to ask Harvard Women in STEM whether a man could serve as a mentor and also the first male finalist for Mentor of the Year
• I declined a job at McKinsey after graduating from undergrad
• I automated my online dating profile using machine learning, then deleted the tool after feeling it was unethical
• After a friend told me she was having trouble finding dates, my best mate and I arranged a pub crawl for her birthday with a blind date at each stop (12 total)
• I start every day by allocating a schedule for the day and then I meticulously record my time to see how closely I adhere to that schedule
• I maintain a public diary (this thing)