About Me
My name is Jesse (Vanderbilt PhD ‘24). I am an assistant professor at Tennessee Tech University where I am involved in language and artificial intelligence research (LAIR).
I envision a future in which AI is widely accessible to support the goals of individual humans. While there are many ways this might be approached, I focus on advancing NLP to better facilitate natural language collaboration between human and machine. Specifically, I want to undertand LLM uncertainty and reasoning. However, I’m generally interested in any idea that can positively impact people.
I am also working to apply language model technology to the preservation of the Cherokee language (Tsalagi), drawing inspiration from the work done to preserve Irish (Gaeilge). The hope is to create a dynamic reservoir for the support of future generations of speakers.
I am currently accepting applications for master’s and Phd students. If you are a curious person with an interest in solving real problems and exploring untrodden paths through AI then feel free to reach out via email!
Introduction to LLMs
For those interested in learning more about LLMs, I have put together a reading list here!
This Website
Here you’ll find papers, work in progress, and whatever I’m up to (usually running/climbing, reading, and writing).
I think of goals like completing a thru hike. To reach an objective, you need to minimize zero days. To do that I track daily progress and below there a set of widgets that show my progress.
Additionally, I like to keep an ongoing research journal. It’s where ideas take form and I reflect on my own curiousities, questions, and philosophical musings. Some of these go on to be successful research, many don’t.
