drC

drC at Georgia Tech (1975)

My quest to understand intelligence and consciousness began in a California State Mental Hospital, where I watched traditional psychology fail to help severely disturbed patients. That experience sent me on a four-decade journey from psychology at Fordham to neuroscience labs at Emory—dissecting brains, implanting electrodes, and discovering the mathematical elegance of McCulloch-Pitts neurons. When a PDP-8 computer appeared in our lab, I recognized the same patterns I was studying in biological intelligence, which led me to Georgia Tech just as artificial intelligence was emerging. After 31 years teaching computer science at SMU (where students called me "Dr. C"), I now teach generative AI and large language models at Berkeley, bringing the same brain-to-bits perspective that helped thousands of students understand technology and how to leverage it to navigate technological change.My teaching philosophy follows avant-garde composer John Cage's wisdom:

"Nothing is a mistake.
There is no win and no fail,
only MAKE!"

Whether you're a computer science student concerned about the utility of your computer science degree, a programmer watching AI automate your work or a professional wondering if your career will survive the next five years, the path forward isn't about perfection—it's about understanding AI and using that knowledge to work with an AI as your assistant, not as Darth Vader. pulling you into the Death-Star. The key is to keep learning by doing, adapting with curiosity rather than fear and by adopting ‘MAKE’ as part of who you are.

I've made several transition from in my career - from psychology to neuroscience and then to CS and AI and now from traditional academia to leveraging AI across all domains. The key is finding connections and analogies that enable understanding and help people thrive rather than barely survive technological disruption.

Ready to explore what's next for your career? Reach out to Dr. C for coffee conversations, one-on-one career planning, collaborative projects, or to suggest topics for instructional videos and podcasts. Let's figure out how to make this AI transformation work for you.