Allen R
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Stanford University
Expertise
projects that combine computing/programming and literature, language, or history; myth, ancient literature, Ancient Greek, Latin; analyzing language and literature with AI; linguistics
Bio
I'm a former Classics and digital humanities professor turned technology entrepreneur. As a professor, I taught everything from ancient literature and languages, myth and culture, and the history of technology, to programming, web development, and AI. My special expertise is in Ancient Greek language and literature, myth, and the computational study of language. Right now I'm co-founder of a technology startup that builds AI-powered software for workplace knowledge transfer. Whatever the topic, I'm as excited to dig into the details of a particular literary work or feature of language as I am to help build something new at the intersection of technical domains and humanistic research. I grew up near Philadelphia and have lived in Chicago, north Florida, and now the San Francisco Bay Area. When I was in high school I thought I would end up being a theoretical physicist -- or a movie director. On the side I play saxophone and clarinet, write a bit, and repair an occasional typewriter.Project ideas
Educational games with generative AI
In this project you will create an app that uses the cutting edge of language AI to teach a subject of your choice as a game. Just in the past year there has been a revolution in how we use computers to analyze language. A whole new field is emerging where humans train AI with regular language. In this project you'll learn these new techniques, as well as a bit of Python programming and web technologies. If you'd like to share your app with others, then you can also use this project to learn about business, entrepreneurship, and how software gets made.
Ancient World Expert AI
In this project you'll train a computer AI to teach your fellow students about some part of the ancient world. Perhaps you'll create an expert AI in ancient myth, or Greek drama, or Ancient Egyptian history. You'll learn a lot more about your chosen subject area (remember, AI often lies, even when it sounds like it knows what it's doing) and gain skills in researching and understanding the ancient world. At the same time this project will teach you some programming basics and give you practical wisdom about both the opportunities and the risks of current AI.
Ancient Literature Deep Dive
You choose any work of literature from the ancient world (or the middle ages) and we delve deep on a particular aspect of the work. You can produce a research report and build high level research skills. Or, if you are creatively inclined, we can focus on helping you produce your own translation (even if you don't know the language of the original). In the process you would learn about translation studies and can start learning the basics of the original language as well as producing your own interpretation of the ancient work.
Yesterday's Technology Today
In this project you create a history of technology podcast. You research and learn about the way that new technologies impact our understanding of old technologies. Choose a non-current technology, whether recent (for example, typewriters, film camera, retro computing, etc.), older (quill and parchment books, owl post), or ancient (papyrus, clay tablets, etc.); then we tackle the big idea of how our modern technological world impacts our take on the previous world. You present your research as a podcast or a more retro audio product. In addition to learning about and researching the history of technology, you also can try your hand at audio production.