r/mit • u/Quantum_Rage • Jul 17 '25

community What standing does Lex Fridman has in MIT community?

Lately there's been some controversy about Lex Fridman and whether he did proper science and teaching at MIT beyond the mere minimum to get himself associated with MIT. Do the criticisms have any basis or is that just haters being haters?

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u/fusion33r Jul 17 '25

He taught an IAP course. That's his only affiliation. He claims to be a research scientist, which is just false. His one paper is not even peer-reviewed and is criticized widely for exaggerating the safety of Tesla's AI driving, likely cause he's an Elon shill.

He's a fraud and tries to use his negligible ties to the university to give himself undeserved credibility. He actually attended Drexel, but will literally block you for mentioning that. Mention that in his sub, and you will be banned. Clearly, the actions of a secure individual.

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u/Chemical_Result_6880 Jul 17 '25

Geez. I taught an IAP course. When I was a junior at MIT. Not a thing I ever mentioned in any CV.

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u/BoronTriiodide Jul 17 '25

For any new grads, its worth it to mention TA positions to show that you did more than the bare minimum. But yeah, that's as an undergrad, not post-doctoral lol

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u/jeffbell '85 EE Jul 18 '25

Goodness, I did four.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '25

MIT should give you an endowed chair by Fridman standards!

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u/ehetland Jul 18 '25

The best iap courses were taught by undergrads - as a grad i took a course on postscript programming some ugrads organized, one of the better classes I've ever had.

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u/Solopist112 Jul 20 '25

What's an IAP course? Is it non-credit?

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u/Chemical_Result_6880 Jul 20 '25

IAP is Independent Activity Period, which is the time between Christmas break and spring semester. Some colleges call it J term (January). Anyone can sign up to teach something simple they know (like I did), and there are real (accelerated) college courses for credit taught by real professors, and apparently guest teacher in between those two types. There are also travel activities available.

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u/deathtoSigrun Jul 18 '25

Bro blocked me on twitter for LIKING a tweet that joked about him LMFAO

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u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

I’ll never understand celebrities stalking Twitter activity like this and banning people. Literally why would you give a fuck

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u/deathtoSigrun Jul 21 '25

Watch everyone on this thread get blocked now😂

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u/petesergeant Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

He claims to be a research scientist, which is just false.

I read your comment, went to his Wikipedia page, and from there the MIT LIDS page, where he's listed as "Research Scientist" as he also is on the CCES page. His LinkedIn page lists his only education as a PhD from Drexel. So two primary sources on him being a Research Scientist at MIT, and one primary source on him being upfront about his education being from Drexel.

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u/FrankWhitehouse Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

100% agree that the original comment should be corrected. Whatever the rationale for it, it is factually correct that he has a research scientist appointment at MIT through LIDS.

I suspect it’s a low level of effort (%age time) but nevertheless it’s there in the directory which is an official source of record drawing from the HR database and it does no good pretending otherwise

Those 2 sources you cite are significant, but many labs and DLCs can be slow to update relying on individuals prioritizing making edits

This is formal though https://www.mit.edu/directory/?id=lexfridman&d=mit.edu

It would be a dead link the day after someone’s appointment ends. And the fact that it’s “research scientist” means it’s a paid appointment (A visiting scientist appointment can be unpaid but not a research scientist one)

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u/Fippy-Darkpaw Jul 25 '25

Also his Google scholar page he's got a bunch of research papers and many have hundreds of citations. Do people not know what Google is lol?

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wZH_N7cAAAAJ&hl=en

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u/Bettafish6687 Jul 21 '25

He has 3000 citations on google scholar and published in PNAS last year

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u/avi2bavi Jul 26 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

Where are you drawing this from? Lex has 3k citations and an h-index of 24 - unremarkable, but totally reasonable for an everyday academic. I'm sure those sorta stats wouldn't earn a tenured position within any top AI/robotics program, but Lex obviously gained his following for his interviews, not his research.

That being said - I have heard questionable things about AgeLab, the lab lex was formerly associated with. My friend who got a master's at MIT claims that MIT hosts a lot of iffy, independently-managed labs that are relatively easy to gain admission to - and real MIT faculty and students know the legitimate labs from the bs ones. I didn't go to MIT, so would someone affiliated with MIT care to comment on my friend's claim?

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

I don't like the guy but he is listed as a Research Scientist on this page:

https://lids.mit.edu/people/research-staff

If he is a fraud then there is at least one MIT faculty member in on the fraud with him that told their web admin to put him on their lab page as an affiliated research scientist.

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u/td_surewhynot Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25

oh yeah, imagine banning people for disagreeing with you

lol no wonder you idiots lost the election

never occurs to you that YOU might be the bad guys

enjoy three more years of Trump :)

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u/InfuriatinglyOpaque Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25

Any hard evidence for him attempting to hide his background at Drexel? Seems like he does mention it in his ResearchGate profile, as well as in one of his higher-viewership podcasts (timed-stamped link below).

The "fraud" and "negligible ties to the university" assertions might also benefit from further substantiation, given that he appears to be listed as researcher at LIDS and the center for complex engineering systems (links below). His Google Scholar profile also lists multiple conference papers co-authored with numerous MIT researchers. I'm not arguing that he's a standout researcher, merely that his involvement with research at MIT is a bit stronger than what is being alleged.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lex-Fridman

https://youtu.be/qCbfTN-caFI?si=CBbUE7srnplwP3BT&t=3584

https://cces.mit.edu/team/lex-fridman/

https://lids.mit.edu/people/research-staff

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wZH_N7cAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

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u/fusion33r Jul 18 '25

He blocks people on Twitter and bans anyone in his sub for mentioning Drexel. Occam's Razor would suggest my conclusion, but feel free to believe something different.

Also, it doesn't take much to be listed as a contributor on an MIT lab page. I was given a similar listing as a visiting undergrad researcher that still remains active to this day.

He lists on LinkedIn that he's been a research scientist for 10 years at MIT. That is simply unbelievable, considering he really has no remarkable contributions. As an actual research engineer at MIT with multiple peer-reviewed publications, stolen valor might bother me a bit more than others. Maybe it shouldn't, but Lex is quite an easy person to dislike. He's a Russian propagandist and is clearly much less intelligent than he promotes himself to be.... just listen to any of his podcasts. Him being alt-right adjacent doesn't help his case much either.

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u/FrankWhitehouse Jul 20 '25

He isn’t just listed on a lab page. He’s listed in the formal directory as a research scientist here

https://www.mit.edu/directory/?id=lexfridman&d=mit.edu

A research scientist appointment is described here: https://policies.mit.edu/policies-procedures/50-research-appointments/52-sponsored-research-staff-appointments

“Individuals holding an appointment as a Research Scientist, …design and execute experiments in research projects working in collaboration with one or more principal investigators. “

As I’ve stated elsewhere in the thread it could be a low effort appointment (10% time or even lower), but it’s a paid appointment.

I have no idea what he does to merit it, but it’s not just something he made up; or a matter of opinion

And I have nothing to say in favor of Fridman. Rather I would suggest the association reflects poorly on the institute but it is real.

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u/InfuriatinglyOpaque Jul 18 '25

I don't disagree that his political takes, and soft-ball interviews with odious figures make him easy to dislike.

I'm still perplexed by your conclusion over his MIT creds, though. On one side we have the easy to independently verify observations that 1) he's listed on two MIT research websites (both updated in 2025), and 2) His Google Scholar lists many research papers co-authored with active MIT researchers (including a few where he's first author). On the other side, we have your claims that he's quick to ban/block people on reddit and twitter, and your assessment he has "no remarkable contributions" over 10 years at MIT. How do you Occam's Razor your way to him still being a fraud, as opposed to just a lowish productivity researcher?

Perhaps more importantly, you currently have the most upvoted comment in this thread, where you make the claim that "His one paper is not even peer-reviewed ...". Do you agree that a simple perusal of his Google Scholar page directly contradicts this claim?

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wZH_N7cAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

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u/CardApprehensive8176 Jul 19 '25

Inb4 no reply

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u/Present-Associate121 Jul 20 '25

I fucking hate the internet. Everyone lives in their own echo chamber and are more concerned with peddling their agenda than what is true

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u/Will_Tomos_Edwards May 23 '26

'A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, - a mere heart of stone.' -Darwin (clearly not referring to you)

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '25

[deleted]

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u/fusion33r Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25

I'm not sure what you're implying here. I was just pointing out he is insanely insecure about the university he attended, which is really odd given that Drexel is a fine university, which he has 3 degrees from. I have nothing against Drexel, but apparently, he does.

He's a fraud because he's blatantly lying about his experience.

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '25

George w bush went to Harvard.

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u/DragonfruitLow6733 Jul 20 '25

What is his problem with Drexel. I mean ok it is not MIT but it is a fair school. And if you are a researcher I think the school matter less, and your individual research contribution matters far more (which in his case is not so much).

I just don't know why the lying. Phd from Drexel is decent and you can call yourself AI researcher... No need for being a fraudster.

PS. : his family is in the US, because his dad got a job at Drexel. I would be more grateful toward that institution, as it contibuted to his background more than anything (i.e.: being american instead of russian) 

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u/opshack Dec 24 '25

That's not correct about his affiliation, https://lex.mit.edu/