当她还是个孩子, 麻省理工学院大四学生奥利维亚·霍尼卡特 (Olivia Honeycutt) 时，她会在伯明翰郊外的阿拉巴马州乡村的祖父母 农场度过夏天。相比之下，农场和城市生活之间的实际和文化差异变得更加明显。 “农场的生活和我们的生活方式减慢了,”她说。 “这是一个很好的节奏变化。”
When she was a child, MIT senior Olivia Honeycutt would spend summers on her grandparents farm in rural Alabama outside Birmingham. The practical and cultural differences between farm and city life became more pronounced by comparison. “Life and the way we lived it slowed down on the farm,” she says. “It was a nice change of pace.”
如今, Honeycutt, 主修计算、认知和语言学双学位, 仍然发现自己在几个同时相连又截然不同的世界之间移动。她的研究兴趣在于人类思维和意识,语言学习和习得,技术,与社会群体互动和影响的交叉点。
These days, Honeycutt, a double major in computation and cognition and linguistics, still finds herself moving between several worlds that are simultaneously connected and distinctly different. Her research interests lie at the intersection of human thinking and awareness, language learning and acquisition, technology, and social group interaction and impact.
Honeycutt 对语言及其影响我们思考和生活方式的方式的兴趣随着对数学和科学的终身投资而增长。她通过与海地家庭朋友,的关系学习了法语，并因为另一个朋友’的聋哑兄弟姐妹而学习了美国手语。她对这些群体中的说话者如何沟通以及大脑在缺乏听觉输入时如何自我重组非常着迷。
Honeycutt的 interest in language and the ways it can shape how we think and live grew alongside lifelong investments in math and science. She learned French from her relationships with Haitian family friends, and American Sign Language because of another friend的 deaf sibling. She was fascinated with how speakers from those groups communicated and how the brain can reorganize itself when confronted with a lack of auditory input.
“手语和口语有很多不同,” 她说。 “用多种语言和方言说话，同时管理多语言带来的情感和文化细微差别，可以改变您对世界和自己的体验。” 在这些领域开展业务，可以为神经学,大语言模型(LLMs),心理学,和公共政策等多种学科创造研究机会。
“There are so many things that are different about sign language and spoken language,” she says. “Speaking in multiple languages and dialects while managing the emotional and cultural nuances multilingualism presents can shift your experience of the world and of yourself.” Operating in these areas creates research opportunities in disciplines as diverse as neurology, large language models (LLMs), psychology, and public policy.
“神经语言学领域正在进行令人着迷的工作,” Honeycutt 指出, “ 试图更好地理解神经网络之间的差异, AI, 以及每个神经网络如何处理信息。” 她的 想要研究这些很长时间, 她说。 “当人们必须处理失语症等语言缺陷时,例如,，而您’沉浸在多个研究领域中以寻找答案,您可以学习很酷的东西，例如大脑‘如何处理’语言。”
“There的 fascinating work underway in neurolinguistics,” Honeycutt notes, “along with trying to better understand the differences between neural networks, AI, and how each processes information.” She的 wanted to study these for a long time, she says. “When people have to manage language deficits like aphasia, for example, and you’re immersed in several areas of investigation to find answers, you get to learn cool things like how the brain ‘does language.”
Honeycutt 在, 部分选择了 MIT,，因为计算和认知专业是 “ 我在其他地方找不到。” 她对数学和英语, 的喜爱，以及追求“ 以人为中心,” 的计算机科学工作的愿望，增加了她在学院’的教职员工和其他学生。
Honeycutt chose MIT, in part, because the computation and cognition major was “not something I could find elsewhere.” Her affinity for math and English, alongside a desire to pursue the kind of computer science work that “centered people,” increased the likelihood that she could continue in her preferred areas of investigation with the support of the Institute的 faculty and other students.
她决定主修语言学以及计算和认知，这意味着她可以将自己对大脑功能和技术的兴趣与数据驱动的语言研究和处理方法联系起来。 “主修语言学凸显了科学严谨性的力量，可以组织和分析大量混乱的,以人为中心的数据,”她说。她的课程强化了她决定的价值。
Her decision to major in linguistics along with computation and cognition meant she could connect her interests in brain function and technology with a data-driven approach to language study and processing. “Majoring in linguistics highlighted the power of scientific rigor to organize and analyze a vast amount of chaotic, human-centric data,” she says. Her coursework reinforced the value of her decision.
Honeycutt 称赞 MIT 专注于跨学科研究所提供的自由。 “研究人员正在探索人类和 LLM 语言模型和处理之间的差异,，其中很多工作正在 MIT,” 她说。 “MIT 提供了严格的灵活性，使我能够沉迷于多种学术兴趣。”
Honeycutt lauds the freedom MIT的 focus on interdisciplinary study provides. “Researchers are exploring differences between human and LLM language models and processing, and a lot of that work is happening at MIT,” she says. “MIT provides a rigorous flexibility that allows me to indulge multiple academic interests.”
Honeycutt 最看重的就是这种灵活性。 “It的 是我’m 走上这条路的唯一原因，我’选择,” 她继续, 一项以语言习得为重点的, 教育政策, 法学硕士 计算的可能性和限制, 和教育改革。
It的 this flexibility that Honeycutt values most. “It的 the only reason I’m on the path I’ve chosen,” she continues, one that features a focus on language acquisition, education policy, LLMs computational possibilities and limitations, and education reform.
Honeycutt的 在 2025 年的一系列 MISTI 旅行中继续进行研究。她在夏天, 前往南非，在那里她为南非人权委员会的 “ 阅读权” 活动工作。她探索了语言处理和大脑功能之间的联系，并支持研究以帮助制定立法，以帮助提高南非人的识字率。
Honeycutt的 research continued on a series of MISTI trips in 2025. She traveled to South Africa in the summer, where she worked on the South African Human Rights Commission的 “Right to Read” campaign. She explored connections between language processing and brain function and supported research to aid in developing legislation to help increase literacy among South Africans.
“语言多样性在南非带来了重大挑战,” 她断言。 “殖民化对非洲原住民的影响之一,例如,是儿童经常被赶出学校，因为他们不能’无法使用他们’正在学习的语言—，例如南非荷兰语—与家人在一起。”
“Linguistic diversity presents significant challenges in South Africa,” she asserts. “One of the impacts of colonization on indigenous Africans, for example, is that children are often pushed out of schools because they can’t use the languages they’re learning — like Afrikaans — with their families at home.”
2025, 秋季，她参加了一次 MISTI 旅行，前往爱丁堡, 苏格兰,，在那里学习社会语言学。她了解到考虑麻省理工学院提供的语言学品牌的替代方法的价值。 “MIT的 语言学方法以单词为中心，并将其研究视为数学问题,，而社会语言学包括重要的文化背景,” 她说。将两者联系起来可以形成更完整的, 整体工作方法。
In fall 2025, she took a MISTI trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, where she studied sociolinguistics. She learned the value of considering alternative approaches to the brand of linguistics offered at MIT. “MIT的 approach to linguistics centers words and approaches its study like a math problem, while sociolinguistics includes important cultural context,” she says. Connecting the two made for a more complete, holistic approach to the work.
Honeycutt values a balanced approach to her studies, creating time for extracurricular activities that allow her to both investigate her research goals and create community.她回忆道，“I 于 2024 年,” 在华盛顿, 完成了政策实习。
Honeycutt values a balanced approach to her studies, creating time for extracurricular activities that allow her to both investigate her research goals and create community. “I completed a policy internship in Washington, D.C. in 2024,” she recalls.
她 是 Theta Delta Chi, 兄弟会的成员，该兄弟会由来自不同学术背景的不同本科生组成。她参加女子 俱乐部足球比赛，并且是麻省理工学院本科生协会的官员。作为社区服务委员会, 的联合主席，她 致力于与住在校外的学生建立联系。
She的 a member of Theta Delta Chi, a fraternity comprising a diverse group of undergraduates from a variety of academic backgrounds. She plays women的 club soccer and is an officer with the MIT Undergraduate Association. As a co-chair of the Community Service committee, she的 leading efforts to create connections with students living off campus.
Honeycutt 认为，语言塑造了用户看待世界的方式,。 “I’m 对语言如何限制思想感兴趣,” 她说。语言掌握程度也是衡量情商的重要工具。 “It 人们在学校学习和理解语言很重要,” 她认为。 “人们应该能够使用一种语言，使他们能够有效地传达他们’的想法。”
Language shapes the ways its users view the world, according to Honeycutt. “I’m interested in how language can constrain thought,” she says. Language mastery is also a valuable tool in gauging emotional intelligence. “It的 important that people acquire and understand language in school,” she argues. “People should have access to a language that allows them to effectively communicate what they’re thinking.”
霍尼卡特认为，表达情绪的词语可以帮助人们处理情绪,。这在翻译和心理学, 等领域很重要，因为这些领域的细微差别可能很重要。她还认为阅读和语言习得是发展有效自我意识的重要工具。语言是思维的媒介，为增进理解提供了护栏。
Having words for emotions can help people process them, Honeycutt believes. This is important in areas like translation and psychology, where nuance can be important. She also believes that reading and language acquisition are essential tools in developing effective self-awareness. Language is a medium for thought and provides guardrails to improve understanding.
“接触大量词汇,包括情感词汇,可以提高你的情商,”她说。
“Access to a large vocabulary, including words for emotions, can increase your emotional intelligence,” she says.
凭借专注于认知,语言,和人工智能的坚实学术基础, Honeycutt计划毕业后继续攻读法律和政策。这意味着法学院和公共政策课程,可能在提供双学位课程的机构中。
With a solid academic foundation focused on cognition, language, and AI in place, Honeycutt plans to pursue studies in law and policy after graduation. That means law school and public policy programs, perhaps at an institution that offers a dual degree track.
“I 希望为服务不足的学生提供机会,” 她说。 “政策空间中的问题在,部分中很困难,，因为它们无法简单分类并涉及多个利益相关者。”教育, Honeycutt说, “是一个尝试解决的有趣问题。”她希望通过提高读写能力,确保语言多样性,并以科学和技术为中心来支持实现持久变革的努力。在制定和实施有利于学习者, 机构, 家庭, 和社区的有效立法时进行研究。
“I want to extend opportunities to underserved students,” she says. “Problems in policy spaces are difficult, in part, because they defy easy categorization and involve multiple stakeholders.” Education, Honeycutt says, “is a fun problem to try to solve.” She wants to support efforts to enact lasting change by improving literacy, ensuring linguistic diversity, and centering science and research when crafting and implementing effective legislation that benefits learners, institutions, families, and communities.
在某个领域没有一项研究能够回答, Honeycutt 认为的所有问题。通过将大脑功能科学与语言学, 的社会和数学方面相结合，她可以继续研究语言, 的使用, 以及对人们及其生活的影响。我们可以’t 解决教育挑战, 改进人工智能和使用人工智能工具,，并在没有机构和社区支持的情况下进一步研究语言学。
There的 no single study in a field that will answer all the questions, Honeycutt argues. By combining the science of brain function with the social and mathematical aspects of linguistics, she can continue investigating language, its usage, and impacts on people and their lives. We can’t solve education challenges, improve AI and access to AI-enabled tools, and further the study of linguistics without institutional and community support.
“支持研究,” Honeycutt 说。 “D不要’放弃尝试解决这些问题。”
“Support research,” Honeycutt says. “Don’t give up on trying to solve these problems.”