about

about me (mk) and about mk notes

A photo of me, an Indian American woman in my early 40s, with short wavy black hair, smiling in front of distant green hills and blue sky.
Me

first published: march 14, 2025 (π day!)
last updated: march 20, 2025

about me (mk)
about my research
about mk notes

about me (mk)

My name is Maithilee Kunda. I don't really go by MK in conversation, but it is how I have conveniently signed off on emails since my very first email account (Hotmail!) in the late 1990s.

I am a professor (ish)[1] of computer science at Vanderbilt University and at the University of Edinburgh, and I have been working on AI and cognitive science for about twenty years.

My research looks at visual reasoning in humans and machines and includes projects on: automated reasoning with visual imagery; search and planning algorithms; computational models of infant visual learning; technology-based cognitive assessment; visual thinking in autism; neurodiversity; and CS and STEM education.

My teaching has covered a range of undergraduate and graduate courses across AI and cognitive science, including introductory and advanced AI, machine learning, computational cognitive science, cognitive modeling, and CS ethics.

I love both the research and the teaching that I get to do. By far, my favorite part of the job is working with and teaching students, who continue to amaze me with their curiosity and brilliance.[2]

Being a scientist means being part of a much larger conversation that goes back centuries (if not millenia), and if I can dedicate this blog to anyone, it would be to all of the teachers, mentors, and students who have shaped how I think and made their enthusiasm for learning contagious.

about my research

For more on my research and the great students I have had the privilege to work with, see my (needs-to-be-updated!) lab website:

AIVAS Lab [3]

My professional website (also in dire need of updating) lists some highlights and other info:

MK's website

about mk notes

notes on cognitive science, AI, technology, education, and society

In lieu of providing a detailed explanation/justification/exposition of what these notes are intended to be, I leave you with three quotes from three luminaries of scientific writing (in chronological order):

William Ross Ashby, from a 1945 journal entry:

My early notes, especially Volumes 2 and 3, are appalling even for their simple ignorance and inaccuracy. They are quite unfit for any human eye.

Cosma Shalizi, from a 2023 blog post:

(Because this is getting some --- forgive the phrase --- attention, I find myself having to clarify, again, that these notebooks are always me working out what I think, and tracking my reading. I put them online because I have the least sexy kind of exhibitionist streak imaginable sometimes people offer to help me learn, and some people say they find them useful. Please do not confuse random online writing, even forcefully-expressed random online writing, with actual intellectual authority. Here, I think the previous paragraph makes it plain just how little deference anyone should pay to these opinions, and how likely these notes are to contain errors. Those already familiar with this area should learn nothing here.)

MK, from a 2025 blog post:

So, freed from the shackles of formality, usefulness, conciseness, cohesion, or even correctness ... I embark!

mkfootnotes™

  1. My official job titles are: Associate Professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University (currently on leave), and Reader in Computational Cognitive Science in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. ↩︎

  2. When I think about my research students, I am always reminded of this great quote by computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland:

    "One of the wonders of graduate students is that they haven't yet learned all of the things that can't be done, and so they are willing and able to do some of them."

    ↩︎

  3. AIVAS Lab = Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems ↩︎