Harvard Research in AI and Physics
New research opportunities for undergraduates are highlighted by current faculty and postdoctoral work at Harvard. SEAS faculty member Boaz Barak is partnering with OpenAI on AI safety, while campus postdoc Johnny Ho's work on detector research for neutrino experiments offers exposure to experimental physics and data analysis.
Boaz Barak holds a dual role as a Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard and a member of the technical staff at OpenAI, focusing on the theoretical foundations of machine learning and AI safety. His work in AI safety aims to ensure that AI models reliably follow human intent, even in scenarios outside of their original training data. This involves developing technical solutions to prevent large-scale harm from AI deployment. Barak's AI safety research explores methods like "Deliberative Alignment," a training paradigm that teaches models to recall and reason about safety specifications before providing an answer. This approach is designed to increase the robustness of AI systems against "jailbreaks" and reduce instances of refusing reasonable requests. He also teaches a graduate-level course at Harvard on the technical challenges in AI safety, covering topics like adversarial robustness and interpretability. The field of neutrino physics, where postdoc Johnny Ho conducts his research, grapples with fundamental questions about the universe. Neutrinos are the most abundant particles with mass in the universe, yet they are incredibly difficult to detect because they rarely interact with other matter. The discovery that neutrinos have mass and can change "flavor" was evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. Johnny Ho's work on detector research for neutrino experiments is part of a global effort to unravel these mysteries. Large-scale experiments, such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), aim to study neutrino oscillations with unprecedented precision. These experiments could help explain why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. For undergraduates interested in these fields, Harvard offers numerous pathways to get involved in research. The Physics Department encourages all concentrators to engage in original research, either during the academic year for credit or for pay. Many students begin with experimental research in a lab, and opportunities can be found by directly contacting faculty members whose work is of interest. Summer is a particularly active time for undergraduate research, with many funded programs available. Harvard provides various funding sources, including the Harvard College Research Program (HCRP) and the Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE), which offers a residential research community. Additionally, the National Science Foundation funds Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs across the country.
