Adhyyan Narang

I am completing my PhD in the ECE Department at the University of Washington, advised by Prof. Maryam Fazel and Prof. Lillian Ratliff (Graduation: March 2026). During my PhD, I have also had the good fortune to collaborate closely with Prof. Jeff Bilmes and Prof. Kevin Jamieson. I am on the industry job market.

My research studies how ML systems behave when they interact with humans and with each other, and how to ensure those interactions are safe and beneficial. This spans game-theoretic frameworks for multi-agent learning, empirical work on manipulation and deception in LLM optimization, and foundational questions in learning theory. See the Publications tab for the full list.

Prior to joining UW, I completed my Masters in 2020 in the BLISS Lab in the EECS department at UC Berkeley, where I was advised by Prof. Anant Sahai. I completed my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley with a major in EECS and minor in Theater and Performance Studies.

Selected Publications

M. Williams*, M. Carroll*, A. Narang, C. Weisser, B. Murphy, A. Dragan. “On targeted manipulation and deception when optimizing LLMs for user feedback.” ICLR 2025 (arxiv) (Coverage in NYT, Washington Post)

A. Narang, E. Faulkner, D. Drusvyatskiy, M. Fazel, L. Ratliff. “Multiplayer performative prediction: Learning in decision-dependent games.” JMLR 2023 (arxiv)

A. Narang, A. Wagenmaker, L. Ratliff, K. Jamieson. “Sample complexity reduction via policy difference estimation in tabular reinforcement learning.” NeurIPS 2024 (Spotlight) (arxiv)

A. Narang, S. Dean, L. Ratliff, M. Fazel. “Dynamics in ML markets: Choice-driven learning and peer model probing.” Preprint, 2026