PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Kory Wallace Mathewson

Kory Wallace Mathewson is a researcher whose work spans reinforcement learning, robotics, language models and creative tools. He co-authored research on human feedback for robotic learning and built an AI improviser for live shows with human actors. His language-model projects include Story Centaur for writers and Dramatron for scripts. He is a Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, studies how humans and machines create together, and launched the Veo video models and Flow filmmaking tool.

Timeline

  1. 2016–2017

    Robot learning and AI improv

    In 2016, he coauthors a study on training a robotic agent with actor-critic reinforcement learning and simultaneous human control and feedback. In 2017, he and Piotr Mirowski build an AI actor for live improvised theatre; their paper describes 30 shows and a Turing test for the audience.

  2. By 2019

    Engineering and a PhD

    Before his PhD, he earns a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in biomedical engineering. In November 2019, he completes a PhD in Computing Science at the University of Alberta.

  3. By 2019

    Research groups at UAlberta

    By 2019, he works with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), the Reinforcement Learning and Artificial Intelligence (RLAI) group, and the Bionic Limbs for Improved Natural Control (BLINC) lab.

  4. 2019

    DeepMind in Montreal

    In November 2019, he moves to Montreal to work as a research scientist with DeepMind.

  5. 2021

    Story Centaur for writers

    In 2021, he coauthors Story Centaur, an interface that helps creative writers prototype few-shot models and compose their own co-creation tools.

  6. 2023

    Dramatron co-writing scripts

    In 2023, he coauthors Dramatron, which applies language models hierarchically and uses prompt chaining to generate coherent scripts and screenplays.

  7. 2025

    Technical direction for ANCESTRA

    In June 2025, he serves as Technical Director for ANCESTRA, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival. The short pairs live-action scenes with video generated by Veo.

  8. As of October 2026

    Google DeepMind staff scientist

    As of October 2026, he is a Staff Research Scientist at Google DeepMind and studies how humans and machines create together. He launches the Veo video models and the Flow filmmaking tool, and contributes to Gemini Omni.

Career

  1. Since 2019Google DeepMindResearch Scientist

Education

  1. 2019University of AlbertaPhD in Computing Science

From the biography.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Google. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Google. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  3. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes Google. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  4. Google alumni have founded or led 133 other organizations, more than any other AI labIncludes Google. We estimate that alumni of 17 major AI labs went on to found or lead 350 other organizations, including 226 they founded, and we trace 472 career moves directly between 23 labs since 2010.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. Simultaneous Control and Human Feedback in the Training of a Robotic Agent with Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Improvised Comedy as a Turing Test arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Improv and AI: Science grad connects comedy and science | Faculty of Science ualberta.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Kory Mathewson | Google Research research.google. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Co-Writing Screenplays and Theatre Scripts with Language Models: An Evaluation by Industry Professionals deepmind.google. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Behind “ANCESTRA”: combining Veo with live-action filmmaking blog.google. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Kory Mathewson | Research Scientist korymathewson.com. Checked 21 October 2026.