Hello, I'm Sam.
I research Artificial Intelligence at the University of Rochester as a PhD student
and assist at URMC with modeling the progression of Parkinson's disease.
My passion is reinforcement learning, the process by which an intelligent agent
such as a self driving car, a character in a video game, or a robot,
learns from experience how to act and behave in an environment.
(Much as a baby learns over time how to walk or talk or read or create).
To me, this research is a journey into understanding consciousness and the mind,
and through that end a spirited adventure of meeting the divine.
I am part of NSF Research Training, which is an interdisciplinary program between AI and Brain and Cognitive Sciences,
and likewise my research is heavily inspired by the brain.
Additionally, I love to study psychology, comparative myth, and philosophy,
and I personally enjoy film making, creative writing, and the outdoors.
My aspiration in my career is to solve general intelligence — and then all of mankind's woes.
:)