about
Hi! I am an Associate Professor of Computational Cognitive Science at Radboud University in the Netherlands.
My research comprises (meta)theoretical, critical, and radical perspectives on the neuro-, computational, and cognitive sciences broadly construed. See the publications section below or my group's website for more.
I am committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in (open) science, promoting access to technical skills training — including the broader decolonisation of cognitive and computational sciences. Relatedly, Christina Bergmann and I maintain a list of underrepresented cognitive computational scientists.
biography
I am originally from Cyprus and all my higher education took place in the United Kingdom. I hold an undergraduate degree in Computer Science (2009; University of York, UK), an MSc in Cognitive and Decision Sciences (2010; University College London, UK), and a PhD in Psychological Sciences (2014; Birkbeck, UK) on computational models for semantic memory.
Since obtaining my PhD, I have worked at the University of Oxford and at University College London, as well as for an EU-funded research centre in Cyprus. In 2020, I moved to the Netherlands to work with Andrea E. Martin, before starting as an Assistant Professor at the Radboud in 2021 where I still work.
research interests
If you are interested in working with me, feel free to contact me. Prior to that, it might be worth taking a look at my group's website and at the following themes of research that currently interest me:
- Critical perspectives on AI, its history, its current state, including projects about artificial neural networks, sans hype (e.g. Guest, 2026; Guest & Martin, 2023, 2025b).
- Metatheory and metamethodology in neuro-, cognitive, computational, and psychological sciences (e.g. Guest, 2024).
- Human categorisation and models thereof from a perspective of what is lacking in our framing of this cognitive capacity (e.g. Natalia Scharfenberg's PhD project).
news & resources
- 16th May 2026: Updated my group's website — metatheory.space.
- 8th March 2026: Created a single page with all my posts, short articles, & resources.
- 15th January 2026: Our summer school course Critical AI Literacies for Resisting and Reclaiming is open for applications.
- 9th July 2025: The AI as a Science: Course Manual (taught from 2020/21 to 2024/25) is publicly accessible.
- 27th June 2025: Colleagues and I have written and published: Open Letter: Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia.
- Guest, O., Suarez, M., Müller, B., et al. (2026). Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia. Digital Culture & Education. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20082828
- Guest, O., Nuñez Hernández, N. A., & Blokpoel, M. (2026). Understanding Artificial Neural Networks: Mysterianism about Known Mechanism is Mysticism. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20071869
- Guest, O. Martin, A. E., & van Rooij, I. (2026). On Models, Prediction, and Scientific Roles Thereof: Commentary on Sanbonmatsu et al. (2025). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19983695
- Guest, O. (2026). What Does 'Human-Centred AI' Mean?. Behavioral Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040583
- Guest, O., Blokpoel, M., & van Rooij, I. (2026). What the Func? Multiple Realizability Need not be Vague. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19388964
- Guest, O. & Martin, A. E. (2026). A Metatheory of Classical and Modern Connectionism. Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000591
- Guest, O., Suarez, M., & van Rooij, I. (2025). Towards Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacies. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17786243
- Guest, O. & van Rooij, I. (2025). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1
- van Rooij, I. & Guest, O. (2025). Combining Psychology with Artificial Intelligence: What could possibly go wrong?. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/aue4m_v2
- Guest, O., Scharfenberg, N., & van Rooij, I. (2025). Modern Alchemy: Neurocognitive Reverse Engineering. PhilSci-Archive. https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/25289
- Forbes, S. H. & Guest, O. (2025). To Improve Literacy, Improve Equality in Education, Not Large Language Models. Cognitive Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.70058
- Guest, O. & Martin, A. E. (2025). Are Neurocognitive Representations 'Small Cakes'?. PhilSci-Archive. https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/24834
- van Rooij, I., Guest, O., Adolfi, F. G., de Haan, R., Kolokolova, A., & Rich, P. (2024). Reclaiming AI as a theoretical tool for cognitive science. Computational Brain & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42113-024-00217-5
- Guest, O. & Forbes, S. H. (2024). Teaching coding inclusively: if this, then what?. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies. https://doi.org/10.5117/TVGN2024.2-3.007.GUES
- van der Gun, L. & Guest, O. (2024). Artificial Intelligence: Panacea or Non-intentional Dehumanisation?. Journal of Human-Technology Relations. https://doi.org/10.59490/jhtr.2024.2.7272
- Guest, O. (2024). What Makes a Good Theory, and How Do We Make a Theory Good?. Computational Brain & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42113-023-00193-2
- Guest, O. & Martin, A. E. (2023). On Logical Inference over Brains, Behaviour, and Artificial Neural Networks. Computational Brain & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42113-022-00166-x
- Erscoi, L., Kleinherenbrink, A., & Guest, O. (2023). Pygmalion Displacement: When Humanising AI Dehumanises Women. SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/jqxb6
- Birhane, A. & Guest, O. (2021). Towards Decolonising Computational Sciences. Women, Gender & Research. https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v29i2.124899
- Guest, O. & Martin, A. E. (2021). How Computational Modeling Can Force Theory Building in Psychological Science. Perspectives on Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620970585
- Whitaker, K. J. & Guest, O. (2020). #bropenscience is broken science. The Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4099011
- Guest, O., Caso, A., & Cooper, R. P. (2020). On Simulating Neural Damage in Connectionist Networks. Computational Brain & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42113-020-00081-z
- Cooper, R. P. & Guest, O. (2014). Implementations are not specifications: specification, replication and experimentation in computational cognitive modeling. Cognitive Systems Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2013.05.001
