Michael (Mike) Zahorec
Graduate Student in
Philosophy and
Computer Science
at Florida State University
As a philosopher, I work primarily in philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and ethics.
As a computer scientist, I am interested in most anything to do with data: machine learning, deep learning, data structures, algorithms, etc.
I also work at the intersection of these two fields. Recently, I have been working in data ethics and ethics of AI technologies. I also have multiple active projects in digital humanities. Additionally, I use data science techniques to help resolve philosophical issues.
My dissertation is about natural kinds. Most of the literature I engage with is from philosophy of science, though my work also engages with issues in philosophy of language, linguistics, and cognitive science. Additionally, having been inspired by a longstanding Third Critique reading group as well as the work of Michael Thompson and Sebastian Rödl, I am engaging with Kant's and Aristotle's rich and interesting treatments of natural kinds.
I am working on issues in explainability and interpretability of machine learning and deep learning. I aim to help establish clear, useful versions of these concepts that are informed by my experience building and using these tools. More generally, I hope to use my competencies in both computer science and philosophy to help facilitate clear, informed ethical discourse about machine learning, deep learning, and similar technologies.
Updated July 2023