Hello!

I’m Unso. I teach data science at Cornell University as Assistant Research Professor. I also founded Gena where we are working on Genabase, a database platform for everyday users, business owners, and professionals.

At Cornell University, I teach a course on the History of AI in the Department of Information Science. It’s a semi-technical course for grad students on the early modern philosophy, modern defense funds, and today’s capitalistic race fueling AI development and applications: Starting from the protestant reformation and the early conceptualization of modeling natural intelligence and ending with modern policy challenges of AI.

I primarily research database retrieval and SQL generation, specifically on text-to-SQL systems (txt2sql.com), database accessibility for everyday users, and designing more efficient database schemas for business and professional use.

Gena.co is a research and product AI company focused on using AI for better data access for everyone. Our main product is Genabase.com, a database platform that sync directly with code-generation tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, Bolt, and Vercel v0. We are working on making data accessible in the most seamless way possible for people who have high data needs but don’t even know what a database is.

Previously, I worked as an AI engineer at Hugging Face with researchers like Nils Reimers, Meg Mitchell, and Douwe Kiela. My best known work to date is on data collection for socio-cultural AI systems. (last update: April 8, 2025)

Current Projects

Currently, I am working on topics related to low resource languages for LLMs and code generation, in particular SQL.

My past work can be seen here.

Education

I graduated last year from the Stanford History Department with a PhD thesis proposing a new approach of doing historical research in the era of digital abundance that I coined New Archival History. In it I demonstrate history’s transition to digital methods through an archival example of the Foreign Relations of the United States series. I had the fortune of working with two wonderful advisers across Economics and History, Gavin Wright and Zephyr Frank. I was part of the inaugural cohort of the Stanford Data Science Institute, where we launched several inter-departmental programs to foster cross-campus collaborations.

I also have an MS in Computer Science from Stanford where I focused on AI and I went to Brown University for college where I studied Economics and received a senior thesis award for best thesis in international history.

F.A.Q.s

Q. How do you pronounce your name? The most international friendly way to pronounce it is OON-SO. I go by Unso or Eun Seo in writing. :)

Q. Are you a historian? Yes, I’m a historian by training. My first publication was on the Asian-regional economic implications of the Vietnam War.

Q. Are you American? No, I was born and raised in South Korea. But I’ve lived in the U.S. for the majority of my adult-life and identify best with American culture. I’ve also lived in Singapore where I attended Australian and international schools. I’m currently located in Seoul, South Korea.