Prateek Puri is an information scientist at RAND. Since joining the organization in 2022, he has explored the threats and opportunities artificial intelligence systems pose to policymakers and policy research. Specifically, he is interested in how large language models may accelerate online misinformation spread, as well as how these tools can be adapted for misinformation prevention. He also investigates social and governance frameworks for protecting against the risks of AI while helping capture the technology's benefits. Outside of his work with language models, Puri has developed image-based and time-series-based physics surrogate models to forecast natural phenomena relevant to public and defense sector decisionmaking.
Puri earned a Ph.D. in experimental atomic, molecular, and optical physics from UCLA while researching topics at the intersection of quantum computing and quantum chemistry. During his research, he explored how interactions between laser-cooled atoms and molecules can be exploited to produce exotic chemical species and build next-generation quantum computing architectures. Before joining RAND, he served as a senior data scientist at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), where he leveraged deep learning technologies to flag bad faith actors manipulating financial markets.
Ph.D. in physics, University of California, Los Angeles; M.Sc. in physics, University of California, Los Angeles; B.Sc. in physics, University of California, Los Angeles
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