Since my last post in early 2016, I’ve been working hard to actualize my dream of making impact at scale within the field of artificial intelligence. Two of the main things that I’ve achieved since early 2016 are the following:
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In July 2016, I was offered the opportunity to work alongside the inventors of Siri within Apple’s Siri Advanced Development Group. As Sheryl Sandberg once famously said,
If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.
and so I did. It’s a research and development team focused on envisioning and developing next-generation features for Siri. This move made sense because it was better aligned with my goals and interests, and is also consistent with Andreessen’s advice on Where to go, and why - in the past few years voice assistants have become increasingly popular, and it’s a competitive space. There are countless opportunities for learning here, and Apple is a great company to get a taste of the intersection between machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human-computer interaction.
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In September 2016, I realized that I wanted to supplement my work at Apple with a part-time Master’s degree in Computer Science, specializing in Machine Learning. My goal with this degree is to build more breadth and depth within the subfields of Artificial Intelligence. From what I’ve read, having a strong foundation in robotics (vision, planning and control), knowledge-based AI, and machine learning will allow for more flexibility down the road, allowing me to adapt to changes in my interests and/or the market. I only applied to two programs: MS in Computer Science at Georgia Tech, and Master of Computer Science in Data Science at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (note the subtle difference in the degrees). I was accepted into both, but ended up choosing my alma mater because it had a broader, well-rounded curriculum and awarded an academic (as opposed to a professional) degree, which will leave the door open for a PhD should I choose to pursue it.
It’s been quite a ride, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many talented and inspirational individuals along the way. I plan to revive this blog and use it as a platform to document my journey throughout my master’s degree.