Parham Pourdavood

AI Research Scientist · Interdisciplinary Researcher

I'm an AI research scientist focused on human-AI interaction, AI ethics, and the societal implications of emerging technologies, with an interdisciplinary background in cognitive science, neuroscience, and computer science. I studied cognitive science at UC Berkeley and currently build tools and analyze data to better understand how humans can co-exist and create with modern AI systems like LLMs. My published research draws on biosemiotics and cultural evolution to examine how these technologies reshape the way we think, communicate, and make meaning.

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Experience

Lead AI Research Scientist

Human Energy · 2020 – Present
Neuroscience Data Scientist

UCSF, Weill Institute for Neurosciences · 2023 – Present
Data Analyst

Brain Imaging & EEG Lab, SF VA Medical Center · 2022 – 2023
Undergraduate Researcher

Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Berkeley · 2018 – 2020

Education

B.A. Cognitive Science (Computer Science Focus)

University of California, Berkeley · 2018 – 2021

Publications & Preprints

Reshaping Perception Through Technology: From Ancient Script to Large Language Models

P. Pourdavood, M. Jacob · arXiv, 2026
Large Language Models as Symbolic DNA of Cultural Dynamics

P. Pourdavood, M. Jacob, T. Deacon · arXiv, 2025
Evolutionary Principles Shape the Health of Humanity as a Planetary-Scale Organism

M. Jacob, P. Pourdavood · BioScience, 2025
EEG Spectral Attractors Identify a Geometric Core of Brain Dynamics

P. Pourdavood, M. Jacob · Patterns, 2024

Software

Altify — AI alt-text generation for images (622 ★)
Speech Hacker — Reconstruct speech from audio databases (373 ★)
EMCM Toolbox — Manifold generation & time-series analysis
Autism Treatment Assistance — Facial & speech emotion analysis

Selected Talks

LLMs as Instruments of Creativity

CLEA, Free University of Brussels · Sep 2025
AI as an Organic Evolutionary Process

N² Conference, UM6P · Dec 2024
AI as a Tool for Social Collaboration and Meaning-Making on a Planetary Scale

Saint Mary's College of California · Oct 2024
Why Stop Here? Expanding the Scale of Life through Noospheric Geography

N² Conference, UC Berkeley International House · Nov 2023

Writing

LLMs as Cultural DNA — Understanding LLMs through the lens of evolutionary biology
AI as a Catalyst for Human Taste and Creativity — How AI amplifies rather than replaces human creative agency
Perturbing LLM Attractors Intentionally — On the dynamics and societal implications of human-AI interaction

YouTube Series

Patterns and Meaning — a conversation series

From Optimization to Empathy: The Future of AI — with Tomás Veloz
The Story of the Noosphere — with Brian Swimme & Monica DeRaspe-Bolles
A Meaningful Evolutionary Mask of the Universe — with Dr. Clément Vidal