Lex Fridman Quick Info | |
---|---|
Height | 5 ft 8 in |
Weight | 78 kg |
Date of Birth | August 15, 1983 |
Zodiac Sign | Leo |
Eye Color | Green |
Lex Fridman is an American computer scientist, podcaster, and artificial intelligence researcher who is best known for his self-titled YouTube channel where he mostly uploads long-duration podcasts where his guests have included renowned politicians, actors, entrepreneurs, scientists, philosophers, sportspersons, historians, authors, and influencers of all kind. The channel has amassed more than 3.5 million subscribers. Besides that, Lex has worked as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a renowned private research university situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He joined the university in 2015.
Born Name
Lex Fridman
Nick Name
Lex
Sun Sign
Leo
Born Place
Chkalovsk, Tajik SSR, USSR (now known as Buston, Sughd, Tajikistan)
Residence
He splits his time between Austin, Travis County, Texas, United States, and Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States.
Nationality
Education
Lex had attended the Neuqua Valley High School, a public school located in Naperville, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States. After his high school graduation, he joined Drexel University, a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He attained his B. S. (Bachelor of Science) and M. S. (Master of Science) degrees in computer science from there in 2010.
He completed his Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) in electrical and computer engineering from the same university in 2014. His dissertation, titled ‘Learning of Identity from Behavioral Biometrics for Active Authentication’ sought to investigate the problem of active authentication on desktop computers and mobile devices.
Occupation
Computer Scientist, Podcaster, Artificial Intelligence Researcher
Family
- Father – Alexander Fridman (Plasma Physicist, Professor, Director of the C. J. Nyheim Plasma Institute at Drexel University‘s College of Engineering)
- Siblings – Gregory Fridman (Brother) (Researcher in Plasma Physics)
- Others – His maternal grandfather was a machine gunner in the Red Army (the army and air force of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), a transcontinental country that spanned much of northern Eurasia from 1922 to 1991) and fought against Nazi Germany during World War II.
Fields
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Genre(s)
Talk, Technology
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 8 in or 173 cm
Weight
78 kg or 172 lbs
Race / Ethnicity
White
He is of Russian-Jewish descent.
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Eye Color
Green
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Toned physique
- Short-cropped hair
- Affable smile
- Clean-shaven look
Lex Fridman Facts
- Born in the erstwhile USSR, Lex moved to the United States with his family when he was about 11 years old. They settled in the Chicago metropolitan area.
- He started his career at Google LLC (an American multinational technology company) where he worked on machine learning, an umbrella term for solving problems for which the development of algorithms by human programmers would be cost-prohibitive, and instead, the issues are solved by helping machines discover their own algorithms.
- Lex later joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a research scientist. He initially worked on planning algorithms for semi-autonomous vehicles. He later also focused on human-robot interaction and machine learning.
- He began his now well-recognized podcast in 2018. It was originally part of an MIT course on artificial general intelligence (machine intelligence that can learn to accomplish any intellectual task that human beings can perform) and was titled the Artificial Intelligence Podcast. The name was later changed to the Lex Fridman Podcast as it began to address a much wider range of topics/issues.
- Lex holds a first-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (a self-defense martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds).
- He can play both the guitar and the piano.
Featured Image by Lex Fridman / Instagram