PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Anna Ivanova

Also known as Anya

Anna Ivanova is a psychologist who studies how language relates to human thought and how large language models handle cognition. At MIT, she studied language processing and computer code in the brain. She coauthored work distinguishing formal language competence from functional understanding and helped develop EWOK, a framework for testing models’ use of world knowledge. MIT Technology Review named her to its 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2024. As of October 2026, she is an assistant professor of psychology at Georgia Tech, where she studies language and thought with brain imaging, behavioral studies, and computational modeling.

Works
76
Citations
1,464
h-index
15

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2017–2023

    A PhD and MIT postdoc

    She earns a PhD in brain and cognitive sciences at MIT in 2022 after beginning the program in 2017. She works as a postdoctoral associate in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 2022–2023.

  2. 2019

    Can we think without language

    In 2019, she answers “Can we think without language?” in MIT McGovern’s Ask the Brain series and studies language processing in the labs of Nancy Kanwisher and Evelina Fedorenko.

  3. 2020

    Computer code and the brain

    In 2020, she leads an MIT study that finds code comprehension activates the brain’s multiple demand network. The study reports little response to code in language regions.

  4. 2023

    Language and thought in LLMs

    In 2023, she coauthors a paper that defines formal linguistic competence as knowledge of language rules and functional competence as understanding and using language in the world.

  5. 2024

    35 Innovators Under 35

    MIT Technology Review names her to its 35 Innovators Under 35 list for 2024 for her work on language processing in the human brain and artificial intelligence applications.

  6. 2024

    EWOK and world knowledge

    In 2024, she coauthors Elements of World Knowledge (EWOK), a cognition-inspired framework that evaluates language models’ world knowledge with a dataset of 4,374 items across 11 domains.

  7. May 2025

    Language and thought in machines

    At the 2025 APS Annual Convention, she presents “Dissociating Language and Thought in Humans and in Machines.”

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Georgia Tech

    As of October 2026, she is an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology. Her research uses brain imaging, behavioral studies, and computational modeling to study language and thought in humans and large language models.

Career

  1. Since 2023Georgia Institute of TechnologyAssistant professor
  2. 2022–2023MIT CSAILPostdoctoral associate

Education

  1. 2022Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhD

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Videos

YouTube videos in which Anna Ivanova speaks or appears, newest first. A model chose them from YouTube search results. List updated 21 October 2026.

  1. On the history of neural networks in cognitive science and psycholinguisticsThe TWIML AI Podcast with Sam Charrington · 17 March 2023 · 1 min
  2. Does ChatGPT “Think”? A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective with Anna Ivanova - 620The TWIML AI Podcast with Sam Charrington · 13 March 2023 · 47 min

Video data from YouTube API Services. By watching you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service. How we use YouTube data.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Georgia Institute of Technology. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Anna Ivanova yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Anna Ivanova | Georgia Tech - School of Psychology psychology.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Can we think without language? - MIT McGovern Institute mcgovern.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language | MIT News news.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Dissociating language and thought in large language models arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Anna Ivanova Among Top Innovators in ‘MIT Technology Review’ | Sciences at Georgia Tech sciences.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Elements of World Knowledge (EWOK): A cognition-inspired framework for evaluating basic world knowledge in language models arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Anna Ivanova - 2025 APS Annual Convention - APS psychologicalscience.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Anna Ivanova | Research Community people.research.gatech.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.