Max Gupta graduated from Columbia College in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics. In the summer of 2020, he conducted research in Elham Azizi’s lab, investigating generative deep learning architectures for differential gene expression. His journey has taken him from virtual research at the Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics to roles across academia and industry in New York and Germany.
Gupta is an AI behaviorist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. His research focuses on how AI and large language models influence cultural dynamics, particularly collaboration and innovation. In July 2024, he will embark on a new chapter as a graduate researcher at the Computational Cognitive Science lab at Princeton University.
Reflecting on his time at IICD, Gupta credits the institute with kick-starting his research career in machine learning. "Although my time at the institute was entirely virtual due to the pandemic, it was nonetheless a pivotal experience as my first exposure to machine learning research," Gupta shares. This experience set the stage for several machine learning engineering roles in the industry, including positions at Infosys and Cornell. Gupta expresses his gratitude for the warm welcome he received from the IICD community in 2020 despite being a relatively inexperienced undergraduate at the time. "I'm grateful that the IICD community welcomed me in 2020 despite being a young, green undergraduate with little prior formal experience," he says.
The interdisciplinary environment at IICD was instrumental in Gupta’s development. In the Azizi lab, he gained a broad overview of critical issues in machine learning interpretability, which he now tackles using insights from cognitive and neuroscience. "These problems that I am now solving require insights from many different domains, and the institute fostered such an interdisciplinary environment," Gupta explains.
Gupta acknowledges that his experience at IICD equipped him to work effectively in virtual, interdisciplinary teams. "The Institute has also helped me define the type of research I wish to pursue," he concludes. Understanding his research interests and how to contribute maximal value has been a vital skill in his career, which he honed during his time at IICD.
