{"619523":{"#nid":"619523","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Meet IC: Atlanta Native Matthew Guzdial Merges Passions for Machine Learning and Creativity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe School of Interactive Computing (IC) is the unique home to one of the widest varieties of computing researchers in the country. Part iSchool and part computer science, IC merges disciplines to address problems at the center of humans and computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this collaborative environment, IC student researchers are impacting domains including artificial intelligence, robotics, health care, social computing, data visualization and analytics, and more. As a result, their backgrounds are as varied as their research areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this series of Q\u0026amp;As, we\u0026rsquo;d like you to meet some of our talented graduate students. Today, meet \u003Cstrong\u003EMatthew Guzdial\u003C\/strong\u003E, a machine learning and creativity researcher under advisor \u003Cstrong\u003EMark Riedl\u003C\/strong\u003E who has already gained plenty of attention for his work on artificial intelligence in video games.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E IC Associate Professor Mark Riedl\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch Focus Areas:\u003C\/strong\u003E Creativity and machine learning\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHometown:\u003C\/strong\u003E Atlanta, Ga.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHigh school:\u003C\/strong\u003E Lakeside High School\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUndergraduate Degree:\u003C\/strong\u003E B.S. in Computational Media at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent Degree Program:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ph.D. in Computer Science\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us a little bit about your research:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn creativity and machine learning, I\u0026rsquo;m interested both in how we get machine learning approaches to work in creative domains, as well as how we take cognitive models of creativity to improve machine learning approaches.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGiven the focus on creativity, is there something in your research you have created or would like to create?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn terms of a \u0026ldquo;thing\u0026rdquo; I am building, I\u0026rsquo;ve been collaborating with a team of undergrads and a master\u0026rsquo;s student on an intelligent level editor for the past few years (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/UkMeM5Ty1lA\u0022\u003Evideo\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1901.06417\u0022\u003Epaper\u003C\/a\u003E). What I\u0026rsquo;d really like, though, is to combine this with our work on automated game generation to create a new, intelligent automated game generation tool that would allow anyone to make a 2-D game in, hopefully, an intuitive way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo you have a favorite place to hang out on campus or in the city?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn campus, I mostly hang out at my desk or on an armchair in my lab. In the city, I\u0026rsquo;m a fan of Bookhouse Pub and the restaurant One Eared Stag.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt sounds like you spend a lot of time with research. Do you have any other hobbies you like to do in your spare time?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0026rsquo;m an avid runner, so I squeeze in a minimum of one 3-plus-mile run each week and aim for 2-3. I\u0026rsquo;m also hugely into podcasts, with my favorites currently being My Brother, My Brother and Me, Punch Up the Jam, and Friends at the Table.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your favorite memory from your years at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI was part of this kind of wild production of After the Quake at DramaTech, where we built a visualization for one of the actors that he could \u0026ldquo;conduct\u0026rdquo; with his hands through a Kinect, Processing, and a Projector. That was hugely fun to go see.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your proudest accomplishment?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAsk me in, like, six months, and I\u0026rsquo;ll say this Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Meet Matthew Guzdial, a machine learning and creativity researcher under advisor Mark Riedl who has already gained plenty of attention for his work on artificial intelligence in video games."}],"uid":"33939","created_gmt":"2019-03-22 19:49:55","changed_gmt":"2019-03-22 19:49:55","author":"David Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-03-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"619522":{"id":"619522","type":"image","title":"Matthew Guzdial","body":null,"created":"1553283810","gmt_created":"2019-03-22 19:43:30","changed":"1553283810","gmt_changed":"2019-03-22 19:43:30","alt":"Matthew Guzdial","file":{"fid":"235862","name":"Guzdial_Matthew_thumb.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Guzdial_Matthew_thumb.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Guzdial_Matthew_thumb.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":150587,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Guzdial_Matthew_thumb.jpg?itok=4wwR1l5H"}}},"media_ids":["619522"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/guzdial.com\/","title":"Learn More About Matthew Guzdial\u0027s Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.ic.gatech.edu\/news\/612183\/georgia-tech-researchers-develop-ai-can-create-entirely-new-games","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Develop AI That Can Create Entirely New Games"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1299","name":"GVU Center"},{"id":"576481","name":"ML@GT"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Mitchell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}