Rutgers student graduates at 18 and plans to pursue career in artificial intelligence

Alex Geppert was intrigued by the book Deep Learning by Ian Goodfellow, but as a seventh grader he struggled to understand the intricate mathematical concepts behind it.

When the pandemic hit and schools were shut, he went on a deep learning journey of his own, teaching himself calculus and linear algebra. And by ninth grade, he was able to ace the harder of two Advanced Placement calculus exams — something his New Jersey high school discouraged him from even trying to do.

And from there, Geppert’s interest in math and artificial intelligence just kept accelerating.

“Technology is fast-paced, and so am I,” says his LinkedIn profile.

At just 18, he will graduate summa cum laude this weekend from Rutgers-New Brunswick with a string of awards and honors. With a double major in computer science and data science, he’s the New Jersey flagship university‘s youngest graduate this year, though not the youngest ever. (In 2010, 16-year-old Kyle Loh, then of Mendham Township, got his bachelor’s degree. And before that, Hannes Sarkuni, of New Jersey, graduated at 14 in 1996 and his brother Sehrope at 15 in 1999.)

Geppert also appears to be the youngest this year among more than a dozen local colleges that responded to a query from The Inquirer. Besides Rutgers — among schools that answered the query — Bucknell University in Lewisburg reports two 17-year-olds who graduated in 2020 and 2023, but its data warehouse records only accurately go back to 2000.

Nationally, the youngest bachelor’s degree recipient appears to be Michael Kearney, who graduated from the University of South Alabama with a degree in anthropology at age 10, a feat that earned him an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1994.

Geppert said graduating early was never the goal.

“It was more of a necessity in a way,” he said. “My goal was always to get the understanding of AI so that I can now build and develop AI in the cutting edge and hopefully benefit society and build meaningful applications.”

This fall, he’ll start a doctoral program in artificial intelligence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His goal, he said, is to bolster human intelligence, using artificial intelligence.

“It’s almost as if we’re entering an ideas age,” he said. “We need to investigate more creative tasks. We need to think big ideas. Then let’s utilize AI as the productivity gate to be able to solve more of these tasks.”

And he’s on his way.

As his thesis project, Geppert developed a computer vision system that recognizes human finger movements and controls a biometric robotic hand to replicate them. He called it “robotic mimicking of human hand movement.” He did his work in the computational brain lab of Konstantinos Michmizos, an associate professor of computer science.

“Someone can move his or her finger and the system can recognize which finger, which direction, how fast or slow,” said Michmizos. “The robot will move the same way we move our fingers.”

Michmizos said the system has the potential to help transform how robots learn from human actions.

“This is a really sophisticated system that I wouldn’t expect a graduate student to develop let alone an 18-year-old student,” he said.

Michmizos said he was impressed with Geppert’s maturity and discipline and expects he will distinguish himself in the field early.

Geppert said there were roadblocks he had to clear along the way. His high school, Watchung Hills Regional, didn’t want to enroll him in multivariable calculus, also known as calculus III, early in his high school years.

So he enrolled at Raritan Valley Community College and took coursework in the afternoons, evenings, and summers. That allowed him to earn two associate’s degrees in computer science and mathematics at the same time he graduated from high school at age 16. It was there he got a strong foundation in artificial intelligence, he said.

Once he finished his coursework at the community college, he tried to enroll at Rutgers while still in high school, but was told he had to get his diploma first. That led to him graduating a year early from high school, he said.

During his time at Rutgers, Geppert lived at his home in Warren Township, which is about 20 minutes from campus, in part to save money, but also because he enjoys spending time with his parents, he said.

As a member of Rutgers’ crew team, which practices six times a week, he said he was on campus a lot and remained there for classes and studying. He joined the team to stay in shape and get competitive team experience, he said. He also found a solid social network.

“The guys I met in there are definitely going to remain friends for the rest of my life,” he said.

Stephen Wagner, the team’s head coach, described Geppert as “very dedicated and very serious about everything he does.”

The team is ranked fifth nationally in its league and Geppert has been an integral part of the team, he said.

“I wish he would stick around and row for us for a couple more years,” Wagner said.

Being younger than other students never really bothered him, Geppert said. At a strapping 6′3″, people barely noticed.

“I always was more comfortable in a way talking with older individuals in that sort of intellectual discussion level,” he said.

Geppert will miss Rutgers’ main commencement on Sunday. He’ll be in Tennessee with the rowing team for a national competition.

But he will attend a separate ceremony for arts and sciences school graduates on Tuesday.

Geppert recognized there are concerns about artificial intelligence replacing human workers. But he said his interest is to boost productivity, allowing humans to do more.

“The goal is not to replace human thinking,” he said, “it’s to really strengthen it and improve it.”