The Reasoning Lab @ NRL
Today’s best interactive AI and robotic systems cannot reason, and so there exists an urgent need to reconcile the differences between human and machine reasoning. The Reasoning Lab at the Naval Research Laboratory seeks to address it. The lab’s primary goal is to understand the mental processes that underlie human thinking well enough to build plausible computer simulations of them. It is situated within the Human and Machine Intelligence Section, where ongoing research focuses on engineering AI systems that can interact with people effectively. Humans reason when they interact with devices and each other, and so genuinely interactive AI systems must accommodate human reasoning.
Join the lab
Our group is always looking to form new collaborations with enthusiastic researchers. If you’d like to join the lab, read more here.
Current members
Sangeet “Sunny” Khemlani (sunny.khemlani@nrl.navy.mil)
Principal investigator
Laura Kelly (laura.kelly.ctr@nrl.navy.mil)
Postdoctoral researcher (2018 – present)
Hillary Harner (hillary.harner.ctr@nrl.navy.mil)
Postdoctoral researcher (2019 – present)
Greg Trafton (greg.trafton@nrl.navy.mil)
Section Head, Human and Machine Intelligence Section
Affiliated researchers
Gordon Briggs (gordon.briggs@nrl.navy.mil)
Computer scientist in NRL’s AI Center
Emily LeBlanc (gordon.briggs@nrl.navy.mil)
Postdoctoral researcher in NRL’s AI Center
Andrew Lovett (andrew.lovett@nrl.navy.mil)
Computer scientist in NRL’s AI Center
Ben Wright (benjamin.wright.ctr@nrl.navy.mil)
Postdoctoral researcher in NRL’s AI Center
Lab alumni
Neha Bhat
Summer Intern, Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (2019)
Now: Junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Zach Horne
Postdoctoral researcher (2016-2017)
Now: Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Psychology at University of Edinburgh
Nikhil Khosla
Summer Intern, Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (2017, 2018)
Now: Undergraduate at University of Michigan
Joanna Korman
Postdoctoral researcher (2016-2018)
Now: Social Cognitive Scientist at MITRE Corporation