At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team advancing the state of the art in AI, robotics, driving, and material sciences.

This is a paid 12-week internship opportunity and is a hybrid, in-office role.

Here’s a glimpse into the Internship experience from some of our TRI interns!

The Team

This internship opportunity falls within the Adaptive Behavior Systems team of Human-Centered AI Division (HCAI). We are an integrated team of researchers with backgrounds in machine learning, the behavioral sciences, and human-computer interaction. At the core of our work, we aim to create technologies that prioritize human-centered outcomes and enable purposeful human futures.

The Internship

We are seeking a PhD research intern to join our Adaptive Behavior Systems team to push the boundaries of LLM-based human modeling and simulation. The intern will collaborate with our interdisciplinary team to study how language-based generative machine learning models represent human intentions and behavior and develop methods for evaluating how well these models capture individual differences and diverse human perspectives. The project will be focused on a specific sub-area of the overall research program. The intern will further engage in strategy discussions about how the research connects to business impact at Toyota.

This is a Summer 2027 paid 12-week internship opportunity. Please note that this internship will be a hybrid in-office role.

Responsibilities

In collaboration with your mentor and the other researchers in the department, you will:

Scope a research project to align with our core research efforts

Be the primary driver of the technical plan (e.g., problem formulation, model development, evaluation design) with regular feedback from your mentor and teammates

Execute the project using TRI resources

Present the project’s approach and findings in research meetings to the Adaptive Behavior Systems Department, the HCAI Division, and TRI, as well as for stakeholders from Toyota business groups

Our goal is that you end the internship with work that informs internal strategy and may be publishable in an academic journal or conference.

Qualifications

Ph.D. Student in related fields - AI/ML, computer science, computational social science, or related field

Research experience with LLMs and a publication record in relevant topics. Relevant areas include: LLM evaluation and benchmarking, personalization and user modeling, LLM post-training and alignment, and computational human modeling.

Experience with Python programming and DL frameworks like PyTorch.

Interest in human-centered research (e.g. behavioral science, computational social science).

Excellent communication and teamwork skills.

Please add a link to Google Scholar to include a full list of publications when submitting your CV for this position.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $45 and $65/hour for California-based roles. Base pay offered will depend on multiple individualized factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's experience, skills, job-related knowledge, and market location. TRI offers a generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and paid time off benefits (including holiday pay and sick time). Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

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TRI is fueled by a diverse and inclusive community of people with unique backgrounds, education and life experiences. We are dedicated to fostering an innovative and collaborative environment by living the values that are an essential part of our culture. We believe diversity makes us stronger and are proud to provide Equal Employment Opportunity for all, without regard to an applicant’s race, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, religion, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state or local laws.

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Toyota Research Institute

Human-Centered AI Research Intern - Human Language Models

About the Job

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Responsibilities

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About the Company

Toyota Research Institute

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