Alex Warstadt

Alex Warstadt is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego, holding appointments in the Department of Linguistics and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI). His research focuses on computational linguistics, applying advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) to understand human language acquisition, processing, and structure. Key contributions include developing the CoLA and BLiMP benchmarks for evaluating grammatical ability in LLMs, and the BabyLM Challenge to promote data-efficient language models. His work bridges theoretical linguistics, experimental methods, and computational modeling, particularly in pragmatics and discourse structure.

Education: He earned B.A.s in Linguistics and Music Theory from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from New York University (NYU), with a dissertation on 'Artificial Neural Networks as Models of Human Language Acquisition.' Postdoctoral work at ETH Zürich furthered his interdisciplinary research. He leads the LeM🍋N Lab at UC San Diego, which investigates language learning, meaning representation, and natural language processing through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Research Interests: Warstadt’s research emphasizes leveraging machine learning to explore developmental linguistics, computational cognitive modeling, and pragmatic phenomena such as relevance and presupposition. His lab’s work aims to create models that align with human learning processes while advancing efficient NLP techniques. Recent projects include studying multimodal input effects and optimizing models for developmental plausibility.

Labs/Teams: Director of the Learning, Meaning, and Natural Language (LeM🍋N) Lab, focusing on interdisciplinary research across linguistics, cognitive science, and data science.