Nisheeth Vishnoi is the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Computer Science at Yale University. His research spans algorithms, optimization, fairness, and the foundations and societal consequences of artificial intelligence.

He writes on intelligence, human judgment, and the ways computational systems reshape how people and institutions learn. He is at work on a book, The Intelligence Loop: From Optimization to Awareness.

RESEARCH

My work spans mathematics, theoretical computer science, optimization, artificial intelligence, and the societal consequences of computation. A central theme in my research is the study of computational systems not only as technical objects, but as systems that interact with human judgment, incentives, institutions, and social norms.

My current work develops theoretical frameworks for understanding how AI changes the conditions under which people and institutions form judgment. This includes models of skill formation under AI assistance, delegation and verification, sequential bias, agency, accountability, and institutional decision-making. A broader goal is to understand when computational systems expand human capability, and when they quietly weaken the processes through which understanding, discernment, and responsibility are formed.

I also study foundational questions in algorithmic fairness, privacy, and decision-making, especially in settings where algorithms shape opportunities, behavior, and institutional outcomes. My work in optimization and learning includes efficient algorithms for convex optimization and recent work on learning in diffusion models, particularly in geometrically structured spaces.

CURRENT RESEARCH THEMES

AI, skill formation, and delegation. How AI assistance changes learning, verification, reliance, and long-run human capability.

Algorithmic fairness and institutional design. Mathematical models of bias, representation, strategic behavior, and equitable decision-making.

Optimization and learning. Algorithms for convex optimization, sampling, geometry, and learning in diffusion models.

Computation, intelligence, and society. Essays and theoretical work on intelligence, awareness, agency, and the social meaning of AI.

THE INTELLIGENCE LOOP

I am at work on a book, The Intelligence Loop: From Optimization to Awareness, which develops a broader account of intelligence, AI, formation, institutions, and awareness.

Earlier essays on related themes are available at The Intelligence Loop.

AFFILIATIONS

A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Computer Science, Yale University. Adjunct Professor, IIT Kanpur.

Co-founder, Yale Computation and Society Initiative. Co-PI, NSF Institute for Learning-enabled Optimization at Scale.

Member, Yale AI Steering Committee, 2025-2026. Served on the Yale AI Task Force, 2024.

Affiliated with the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and the Thurman Arnold Project at the Yale School of Management.

Previously affiliated with IBM Research, Georgia Tech, EPFL, UC Berkeley, Microsoft Research, Google Research, and IIT Bombay.

OPEN POSITIONS

Several Ph.D. and postdoctoral positions in theoretical computer science, machine learning, optimization, algorithmic fairness, and AI's societal impacts are available. Please get in touch directly if you are interested.

PUBLICATIONS, BOOKS, AND SURVEYS

     All publications
     Research on algorithmic bias
     Algorithms for Convex Optimization

     Selected surveys and lecture notes:
          Lx=b
          Optimization, Sampling, Lie Theory
          Hamiltonian Monte Carlo
          Geodesic Convex Optimization
          Faster Algorithms via Approximation Theory
          Real Stable Polynomials and their Applications to TCS
          Evolution

SELECTED HONORS

IEEE Fellow, 2026.
IEEE FOCS Test of Time Award, 2025.
AMS Fellow, 2025.
ACM Fellow, 2019.
Best Technical Paper Award, ACM FAT*, 2019.

CONTACT

EMAIL    nisheeth (dot) vishnoi (@) gmail (dot) com
TWITTER/X    @NisheethVishnoi
SUBSTACK    The Intelligence Loop