Catherine Havasi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Catherine Havasi
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Born | 1981 (age 43–44) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (S.B., 2003) (M.Eng, 2004) Brandeis University (Ph.D, 2009) |
Known for |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Artificial intelligence |
Thesis | Discovering Semantic Relations Using Singular Value Decomposition (2009) |
Doctoral advisor | James Pustejovsky |
Catherine Havasi (born in 1981) is an American scientist. She is an expert in artificial intelligence (AI). AI is about making computers think like humans. Catherine worked at the MIT Media Lab. She also helped start a company called Luminoso. This company uses AI to understand text. Catherine was part of a team at MIT. They created a special AI program called ConceptNet. It helps computers understand everyday language. Today, she works at Babel Street. She helps create new ways for computers to understand information.
Early Life and Learning
Catherine Havasi grew up in Pittsburgh. She became interested in artificial intelligence very early. This happened after she read a book by Marvin Minsky. The book was called The Society of Mind.
She went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There, she joined the MIT Media Lab. She even studied with Marvin Minsky himself. Catherine was also part of big science fairs. These included the Science Talent Search and the International Science and Engineering Fair. She earned two degrees from MIT. Later, she got her PhD in computer science. This was from Brandeis University.
Her Work in AI
In the 1990s, Catherine Havasi helped invent a new way to gather information for AI. It's called "crowdsourcing." This means getting many people to help with a task.
In 1999, she joined the Open Mind Common Sense project at MIT. She worked with Minsky and Push Singh. Their team created ConceptNet. This is an open-source program. It helps computers understand common sense. It uses information gathered from many people.
In 2010, Catherine was part of the team that started Luminoso. This company uses AI to analyze text. It builds on the ideas from ConceptNet.
Catherine Havasi has been recognized for her work. In 2014, she was named one of Boston Business Journal's "40 Under 40." This award goes to young leaders making a big impact. In 2015, Fast Company listed her among the "100 Most Creative People in Business."
In 2019, the U.S. Embassy invited Dr. Havasi to Portugal. She gave talks on how computers can understand language. Her work at MIT has helped improve how AI learns and understands. She has also helped teach others about AI.
Catherine has written many articles. These articles are about AI and language. They have been published in science journals and presented at major conferences.