AI and the Science of Language Learning with Ben Whately of Memrise

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Ben Whately is the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of Memrise. A psychologist by education, with a Masters in Experimental Psychology from Oxford where he focused on neural networks and computational modeling of human learning, Ben has spent the last 15 years looking at ways to learn and teach languages.

While at Oxford, Ben became fascinated by how we learn languages. In the past, he’d always been able to pass language exams, but would find himself totally unable to actually use the language abroad. While studying psychology, he formed a theory for why this is, and Memrise has been a journey of bringing that theory into reality. He believes that people fundamentally learn languages to connect with other people or because they are enamoured of the culture of that language, and Memrise strives to embody this experience of connection.

Building on his neuroscience and language acquisition background, Ben pioneered the use of LLMs to create the world’s first AI language partner using GPT-3 technology, Membot. Ben is also a prolific angel investor, investing in and advising more than 50 companies in the UK startup ecosystem, with a focus on AI, machine learning and climate tech.

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Language Learning on Memrise