NVIDIA AI pioneer Yejin Choi joins Stanford to bring societal values, common sense to AI

A renowned AI researcher and MacArthur Fellow, Yejin Choi, has been appointed as the Dieter Schwartz Foundation HAI Professor at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI).

Key appointment details: Stanford HAI has named NVIDIA‘s Yejin Choi as Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow, bringing her expertise in natural language processing and common sense AI to the institute.

• Choi will focus on aligning AI with societal values and human intentions, continuing her work on common sense AI and the transition from Large Language Models (LLMs) to Structured Language Models (SLMs)
• She joins Stanford HAI’s leadership team alongside Co-Founders and Co-Directors John Etchemendy, James Landay, and Fei-Fei Li

Professional background: Choi brings extensive experience from both academia and industry to her new role at Stanford HAI.

• Previously served as the Wissner-Slivka Professor at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
• Held positions as senior research manager at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence
• Currently serves as senior director at NVIDIA

Notable achievements: Choi’s distinguished career includes numerous prestigious awards and recognition in the field of AI.

• Named to Time100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023
• Received the Borg Early Career Award in 2018
• Co-recipient of the Marr Prize at ICCV 2013
• Listed among IEEE AI’s 10 to Watch in 2016
• Holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University and a BS from Seoul National University

Leadership perspective: The appointment reflects Stanford HAI’s commitment to advancing human-centered AI development.

• James Landay emphasized Choi’s pioneering work in common sense AI and its potential to reshape the field
• Choi expressed alignment with Stanford HAI’s interdisciplinary approach and commitment to ethical AI development

Future implications: Choi’s appointment strengthens Stanford HAI’s position as a leading institution in human-centered AI research and development, particularly in the crucial area of common sense AI which aims to make artificial intelligence systems better understand and interact with human contexts and intentions.