About Me
My name is Jesse (Vanderbilt PhD ‘24). I am an assistant professor at Tennessee Tech University where I lead the language and artificial intelligence research (LAIR) group.
I study how neural networks, and language models in particular, learn and reason. I also put that understanding to work on real problems, from helping keep endangered languages alive to detecting tornadoes.
- Deep learning fundamentals
- Large language models
- Games and decision making
- Cherokee language NLP
- Spiking neural networks Emerging
- Tornado detection Emerging
More on each area, with papers and press, is on the Research page.
News
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Call for papers
FLAIRS-40 special track, Deliberative and Generative AI: Hybrids and Foundations
I'm co-organizing this track with Kyle Moore and Doug Fisher. St. Pete Beach, Florida, May 24–27, 2027. Abstracts are due January 22, 2027.
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New course
Introduction to PLC Automation (Beta)
A free online course with video lectures, a book and hands-on labs in Ladderbox, a PLC environment that runs in your browser.
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Talk
How Generative AI Really Works
Given at Chattanooga State Community College in October 2026. More about it below.
Work with me
Students. I am currently accepting applications for master’s and Ph.D. 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!
Organizations. I also run Cumberland Gradient, my AI consulting practice, helping Tennessee companies put AI to use.
Learn about LLMs
New to generative AI? My talk How Generative AI Really Works explains what AI is and how large language models write one token at a time. It also introduces Tennessee Tech’s new B.S. in Artificial Intelligence. A companion notebook reproduces the numbers on the slides, and you can open it in Colab or download it.
For those interested in learning more about LLMs, I have put together a reading list here! It’s the backbone of my graduate seminar on LLMs, CSC 7970, where you can see the papers week by week.
Apps
I build free browser apps for teaching and learning. There’s nothing to install.
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See, build and understand neural networks. About Torch Canvas
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Edit, check and present slide decks. About Slidewright
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Ladderbox Beta
Learn to program PLCs in your browser. Free PLC course
For example, here is a full LLM in Torch Canvas.
Open Llama 2 7B in Torch Canvas
My lecture slides and interactive demos are on the Teaching page.
Goals
I think of goals like completing a thru hike. To reach an objective, you need to minimize zero days. To do that I track progress publicly, and the widgets below show where I am. Outside of work I’m usually running, climbing, reading and writing.
