For the final installment in our Alumni Interviews (for now), we're hearing from Sarah Mathew! Sarah graduated from the Macaulay Honors College in 2018, and is now pursuing a PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she participates in graduate research. Read on to learn more from Sarah herself:

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! What are you working on these days, academically and/or professionally?:

I work on human-ai trust and collaboration in creative contexts.

Thinking in terms of your current projects - school or work - can you tell us a little about how studying at Hunter helped you get there?

I really got to think like a scientist by participating in Dr. Epstein's lab group. It was also a space that helped develop my own research interests and then entrance into grad school.

What do you find exciting about your field right now?:

More folks have direct access to AI and purposefully/directly interact with them  (i.e. using the GPT-3 family of technologies instead of something more backend like recommender systems) -- I'm excited to see how that kind of interaction or relationship develops.

What do you see yourself doing downline? Say, 5 years from now: will you be working more deeply in the area you are now, or branching out to something else?:

I'm really not sure, it can go either way. So far, I've been guided by things that seemed impactful (maybe a mission I align with) or rocket-scientist cool. I would love to work for a museum at some point or even for the library for example.

Serious stuff aside, what do you miss about your time at Hunter?:

I've been out of town for a few years now, so I mostly miss the city aspect as well as my favorite halal cart. In terms of the college experience, I miss the structure and variety.

Is there an album/artist/genre of music that you like to listen to when you code, or some other tool/practice that helps you get in the zone?:

Chopin or other classical music, jazz, etc. If it has lyrics, then it can be hard to focus, especially if I'm trying to get through a stack of papers.