hi, i'm vincent!

i'm an AI researcher, writer, and embarker of long walks. i am currently focused on improving our understanding of LLMs and trying out new art mediums. previously, i

studied at MIT, where i ran a free hotel service.
explored the world and participated in living groups such as School 2.0.
competed in math contests such as the IMO.

i love communities, narratives, and technologies that help people live their best lives. please reach out if you'd like to chat!

stuff i've worked on

some of my favorite things :)

ALIGNMENT

a short story about AI research, infatuation, choosing what to believe in

homemade DDR

2025 (hardware)

building a Dance Dance Revolution pad from first principles

what is the point of blogging?

feeling the limitations of the blog format

investigating truthfulness in o3

2025 (ai research), with Neil Chowdhury, Daniel Johnson et. al.

investigating fabrications and truthfulness issues in the o3 model

eating the fire

overcoming scarcity / pessimism / internal critics and finally doing what i want!

when you break your own heart

2025 (visual art)

a comic about choosing between PhD programs

machine learning i

thoughts on language models and how they've affected my perception of people

docent: a system for understanding agent behaviors

2025 (ai research), with Kevin Meng, Sarah Schwettman et. al.

a system for analyzing and intervening on agent transcripts

dance dance revolution ii

things you learn from playing games with people

try to live in black and white but i'm so blue

paralysis and getting bailed out by friends

truth as a terminal value

pursuing truth, giving good advice, and understanding feelings

like a rubber band until you pull too hard

feeling fragile and unable to live alone

research i

thoughts on research and welcoming being wrong

labor economics i

the effects of technology, AI, tariffs, etc. on labor

2024 as observed by the prague astronomical clock

a site that shows 2024 highlights via the Prague Astronomical Clock

unlearning

on becoming more securely attached

cookie-cutters and bananas

trying to find inner voice and avoid memetics

conversations on communication

notes from a year's worth of 1:1s with my manager the feelings / communication goat

fly away on my zephyr

taking the california zephyr from SF to chicago!

monitor: an AI-driven observability interface

2024 (ai research), with Kevin Meng, Dami Choi et. al.

an observability interface for understanding and steering LLMs

neuron descriptions database

2024 (ai research), with Dami Choi, Kevin Meng et. al.

describing every neuron in Llama3.1-8B Instruct

friendship gardens at the end of the world

feeling like all my friendships in SF are conditional...

functional ultrasound through the skull

2024 (hardware), with Raffi Hotter, Anson Yu et. al.

a brain hackathon to try to get fUS through the skull (and also the acoustoelectric effect)

there are bridges you cross you didn't know you crossed until you've crossed

on crossing the point of no return without realizing until much later

socialization

models of socialization, authenticity, transparency

YOU CAN GET WHAT YOU WANT OR YOU CAN JUST GET OLD

leaving a job! realizing the world is abundant and i've been settling!

23.5

general angst about being young and unable to predict the future

why all this music?

learning to express joy! and stop hiding behind facades / seriousness!

turbulence

loving turbulence and instability

from bare metal to a 70B model: infrastructure set-up

2024 (ai research), with Bartosz Wróblewski, Ashley Zhang et. al.

in-depth writeup of how to set up a large H100 cluster for LLM training

looking for gold

optimism as a prerequisite to doing good research

clothes i

reflections on buying clothes for the first time

the dog days are coming

loneliness, companionship, and caring for dogs as a stepping stone to caring for people

where are we headed?

long-distance friendships and maintenance

spend my days locked in a haze

accepting the heartbreak :')

another day of sun

feeling directionless and wanting to find something to set myself on fire for

accelerationism

on not finding accelerationism / agi as compelling as i used to

nonviolence

on safety and nonviolent communication

batteries

batteries for feelings - eg. to store and retrieve motivation

stumbling drunk

finally figuring out how to be happy in SF

feelings from 2023

reviewing 2023 through a feelings spinner wheel

on getting unstuck

talking to people as the only reliable way to stop being stuck

love

wondering why i care about other people

thoughts on safety in sf

confronting narratives of SF being unsafe and their effects

waiting

finally realizing that i'm on my own and need to stop waiting for things to happen

AI x labor lit review

2023 (ai research)

summary of literature on the impact of AI on labor markets

evangelion

reflections on Neon Genesis Evangelion, the hedgehog dilemma, father figures, etc

barriers

realizing my emotional barriers and attachment issues for the first time

it never ends -

reflections on going to Interact retreat and experiencing intense social anxiety + inadequacy

dance dance revolution

DDR as a metaphor for focus, planning, and anxiety

meta webdev tutorial

2023 (teaching)

self-referential web development tutorial where the user uses an in-browser text editor to create an in-browser text editor (this is a joke)

every day it gets a little easier

fixing my broken habits, not through big-picture goals but by taking things a day at a time

prophecies

noticing self-fulfilling prophecies and the importance of choosing which prophecies to believe in

winning

realizing that almost all interactions are positive-sum!!

choosing

deciding what to do after college through the lens of freedom and prisoners' dilemmas

i wish we'd grown up on the same advice

on the failure of colleges to give students real optimism and alternatives to selling out

zk json parser

2023 (math), with Amir Gamil, Ethan Kiang, Pun Waiwitlikhit

implemented a zero-knowledge json parser using push-down automata and Circom

MIT Web.Lab

2022-2023 (teaching), with Web.Lab team

taught the primary web development course at MIT for two years (~400 students/yr)

tandem solar cells

2022 (hardware), with Alex Quach, Eric Zhang

tandem silicon and organic solar cell, fabricated as part of MIT's nanotechnology (6.2540) course

whiplash

a smattering of feelings (joy, loneliness, uncertainty, etc) from college

ambition

on being ambitious but not having a specific ambition in mind

how to move carts

differences between pushing and pulling carts

unicorns

optionality and valuation as applied to people. having lots of unrealized potential

sharp and soft

figuring out how to become a gentler person while maintaining conviction and drive

lyrics

site for visualizing and exploring the relationships between lyrics from different songs. needs redoing at some point

novelty

new experiences and trying to slow down the time

revisiting stoicism

leaving my shell after a year of stoicism. learning to care about things and accept risk again!

things i wish i could do

on wealth, carelessness, and the SF housing crisis

defense

on systems, execution, and basketball as a metaphor for life

zk pairings

2022 (math), with Jonathan P Wang, Yi Sun

first-ever zk implementation of BLS signatures + elliptic curve pairings

synthesis

on changing your mind and growth / progress. it is ok to go in circles! you are learning!

the happy ending is you

reflections on relationships, feelings, breakups

hydroelastic simulation

2021 (other code), with Franklyn Wang and Eric Zhang

efficient contact dynamics simulation using a hydroelastic pressure field model

composing studio

2021 (music tech), with Eric Zhang, Jeffrey Zhu, Ariel Zhang

live / collaborative music composition with audio playback

chinglish chrome extension

2021 (other code)

extension that translates webpage text into varying levels of Chinglish

breathe

on feeling peace for the first time in a long time

curius

2020 (other code), with Marley Xiong, Raffi Hotter et. al.

a chrome extension for saving cool webpages and seeing what your friends are reading :)

it's such a beautiful day

reflections on School 2.0, a coliving group in the New Mexico desert

noisy

2020 (music tech), with Jonathan Xu

AI-powered Discord bot for genre-specific song generation

we're here because we're here

lmao i was so depressed in 2020

I AM A GHOUL

2020 (visual art)

a graphical memoir about my experiences growing up with math contests and Tokyo Ghoul

markov chain models of refugee migration

2018 (math), with James Unwin

algorithmic model of Burundi's refugee crisis

dropbox intern gets dropped

2017 (visual art), with Yang Liu

SPARC 2017's best attempt at making a viral video