Class: 2013
College: Jonathan Edwards
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Wilmington, NC
You may recognize this week’s Campus Celebrity from his appearance on ‘Jeopardy!’ two years ago or from his appearance on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ earlier this month. If not, maybe you will see him this Saturday, February 23rd, when he will talk as a featured speaker for TEDxYale in the Shubert Theatre. But for now, check out what Sam Spaulding had to tell Her Campus Yale about ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’, TEDxYale, and where he’s headed after Yale.
What made you want to be on ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’?
I’ve always enjoyed and been good at trivia. I was on ‘Jeopardy!’ two years ago and it seemed like a fun thing to do before I left school! Plus, Meredith is leaving the show after this season, so I’m glad I got on when I did!
What was the process you went through to get on the show?
I took a train to New York for a live taping and at the taping I took a test. After they announced that I passed the test, I did a quick interview with a handler, and then I did a “secret” interview in a closet, where they taped me answering some practice questions… It was a little weird, but I thought it was fun.
Did you prepare at all?
‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ is a hard show to prepare for because there’s only a maximum of 14 questions, all of which can be on the most random things. I usually play bar trivia with my friends on Tuesday, so maybe that counts?
What was the best part about being on the show?
Ha, um. I guess the thrill of getting out there on the set and seeing all the people around me. I kind of felt like a gladiator.
How did it feel to see yourself on TV?
Well it’s always weird to see how it looks at airtime because you never know what will happen in post-production. Luckily they didn’t make me come off too goofy, so I thought it was a success!
What made you want to be a featured speaker at TEDxYale?
Well, I think I have interesting things to say to people! (Who doesn’t, though, right?) But also, I like public speaking and raising awareness about how cool robots and Artificial Intelligence are (sorry, getting nerdy!).
What exactly is your talk about?
Basically it is about new advances in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and how that’s changing the way that we think about ourselves, the concept of intelligence, and what that means for humanity in the future.
Where did you come up with the idea for your talk?
I think about this stuff a lot because they are sort of the big questions on my mind – you know, the sort of things I think about when it’s 3 AM and I can’t go to sleep. They don’t have really clear-cut answers so there is a lot of room for debate and discussion. Also, though, it is something that is relevant to real life because it is actually happening.
Have you ever done anything like this before?
Yeah. For the past three years I have given research talks at the Yale Engineering and Science Weekend (YES-W), which is a program for incoming freshmen in STEM fields. They are more of a hardcore engineering/science audience, so it’s cool that I can talk about some of the deeper, more abstract issues for this TEDxYale talk.
Do you know what you’ll be doing after you graduate?
I’ll be doing a Ph.D. program in Robotics, either at the CMU Robotics Institute or at MIT. Also, I want to go to Bonnaroo this summer! Lineup looks AMAZING!
Had you always planned on going to graduate school?
I didn’t know for sure that I wanted to go to graduate school until probably last summer. I worked at a research lab with Disney Imagineering doing A.I. research and it was magical.
What about Bonnaroo?
Yeah, I’ve wanted to go for so long but things kept getting in the way!
What will you miss most about Yale?
Chicken tender days? Naked parties? G-Heav bacon, egg, and cheeses? Fence Club? Miyas? Toads? Too many things to choose from!