doi.bio/sam_mccandlish


Sam McCandlish

Sam McCandlish is a co-founder of Anthropic and a former research lead at OpenAI. He currently works as a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University, where he collaborates with the Simons Bootstrap Project. McCandlish's research interests encompass artificial intelligence, machine learning, and theoretical physics, with a focus on quantum gravity, tensor networks, and tomography.

Education and Early Research

McCandlish received his Bachelor of Science in Math and Physics and a Master of Science in Physics from Brandeis University. During his time at Brandeis University, his research centred on active matter, biological self-assembly, gravitational microlensing, and quantum field theory.

Subsequently, McCandlish pursued a Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Physics from Stanford University. His doctoral research expanded into the realms of quantum gravity, tensor networks, and tomography.

Professional Career

After completing his doctoral studies, McCandlish embarked on a career in industry, joining OpenAI as a research lead. At OpenAI, he played a pivotal role in the AI Safety team and assembled a group dedicated to the science and scaling of machine learning. His contributions at OpenAI were significant, as his work on scaling laws laid the groundwork for groundbreaking results, including the development of GPT-3.

In addition to his industry experience, McCandlish has also delved into the academic realm as a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University. He concurrently holds the position of co-founder at Anthropic, where he continues to shape the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Notable Publications

Youtube Videos

Youtube Title: Predictability and Surprise in Large Generative Models

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: ACM FAccT Conference

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@acmfacctconference7348

Predictability and Surprise in Large Generative Models

Youtube Title: Predictability and Surprise in Large Generative Models

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: ACM FAccT Conference

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@acmfacctconference7348

Predictability and Surprise in Large Generative Models

Youtube Title: Sam's experience of studying Theoretical Physics with Mathematics

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Lancaster University

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@LancasterUniversity

Sam's experience of studying Theoretical Physics with Mathematics

Youtube Title: "New Physics and the Black Hole Mass Gap" Sam McDermott (Fermilab) - CFPU Seminar

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Brown University Department of Physics

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@brownuniversitydepartmento5643

"New Physics and the Black Hole Mass Gap" Sam McDermott (Fermilab) - CFPU Seminar

Youtube Title: Science and the public - science's real frontier: Sam Gregson at TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: TEDx Talks

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TEDx

Science and the public - science's real frontier: Sam Gregson at TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Youtube Title: The world around and the world within | Sam Clements | TEDxNantymoel

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: TEDx Talks

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TEDx

The world around and the world within | Sam Clements | TEDxNantymoel

Youtube Title: Student Success Stories: Sam Wojcicki

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: VCUEngineering

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@VCUEngineering

Student Success Stories: Sam Wojcicki

Youtube Title: James Sully - Tensor Networks from Kinematic Space

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: GraduatePhysics

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@GraduatePhysics

James Sully - Tensor Networks from Kinematic Space

Youtube Title: Mid-Afternoon Masterclasses: The most distant galaxies

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: The University of Melbourne

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@UniversityofMelbourne

Mid-Afternoon Masterclasses: The most distant galaxies

Youtube Title: GPT-3 is doing Fuzzy Retrieval (I think), not Reasoning (Deep Learning / Yannic Kilcher) #Shorts

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Yannic Out Of Distribution

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@yannicoutofdistribution6787

GPT-3 is doing Fuzzy Retrieval (I think), not Reasoning (Deep Learning / Yannic Kilcher) #Shorts

Youtube Title: A.I. Talks with Animals

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: A.I. Talks

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@aitalks

A.I. Talks with Animals

Youtube Title: GPT-3: Language Models are Few-Shot Learners (Paper Explained)

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Yannic Kilcher

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@YannicKilcher

GPT-3: Language Models are Few-Shot Learners (Paper Explained)

Youtube Title: 'Hints of something new' Meeting Minds 2021

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Department of Physics University of Oxford

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@departmentofphysics0xford

'Hints of something new' Meeting Minds 2021

Youtube Title: Titanfall 2 with Mackey McCandlish and Barry Kibrick

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Barry Kibrick

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@BarryKibrickOfficial

Titanfall 2 with Mackey McCandlish and Barry Kibrick

Youtube Title: 'Meisner brings out the uniqueness of what is inside of each person'

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Terry Knickerbocker Studio

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TerryKnickerbockerStudio

'Meisner brings out the uniqueness of what is inside of each person'

Youtube Title: International Physics Masterclasses - 2011

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: CMS Experiment

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@CMSExperiment

International Physics Masterclasses - 2011

Youtube Title: MLTSA 2013 "Science"

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: ASCLS

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@ASCLS

MLTSA 2013 "Science"

Youtube Title: Beyond the Interface: Computing Transformed

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Microsoft Research

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@MicrosoftResearch

Beyond the Interface: Computing Transformed

Youtube Title: Other Minds and Hands, Episode 9

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Signum University

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@SignumUniversity

Other Minds and Hands, Episode 9

Youtube Title: Entanglement as a Connection for Holographic Spacetimes - Lampros Lamprou

Youtube Link: link

Youtube Channel Name: Institute for Advanced Study

Youtube Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/@videosfromIAS

Entanglement as a Connection for Holographic Spacetimes - Lampros Lamprou