Wu Enda writes: an important step in developing AI career -- project practice

lately , Wu Enda in the latest issue of AI weekly 《The Batch》 writing , Keep talking AI Occupation planning , The topic of this discussion is project practice , The Chinese version is as follows ：

Dear friends ：

In the last two letters , I talked about in Career development in the field of artificial intelligence The content of , And shared Skills to acquire technical skills . today , I want to focus on an important step in my career ： Project practice .

It goes without saying that , We should only engage in responsible 、 Moral 、 Projects that benefit the public . But under these restrictions, we still have many choices . I mentioned earlier how to identify and define AI projects . This week's letter and next week's letter will have different focuses ： When selecting and implementing projects, focus on career development .

A fruitful career will include many projects , We hope that over time these projects will be in scope 、 Complexity and influence continue to expand . therefore , It is advantageous to start small . Use early projects to learn , As skills grow , Step by step towards larger projects .

When you start a business , Don't expect others to hand you good ideas or resources on a plate . Many people start by doing small projects in their spare time . With initial success , Even a small success , Constantly improving skills also improve your ability to come up with better ideas , And it's easier to convince others to help you overcome larger projects .

What if you don't have any project ideas ？ Consider the following points ：

Join an existing project . If you meet other people with ideas , Please ask if you can join their project .
Keep reading and talking . Whenever I spend a lot of time reading 、 When studying courses or talking with domain experts , I will burst out with new inspiration . I believe you will, too .
Focus on application areas . Many researchers are trying to promote basic AI technology —— such as , By inventing the next generation transformers Or further expand the language model —— Although this is an exciting direction , But it's really hard to do . however , Various applications that machine learning has not been involved in are of great potential ！ Fortunately, , I can apply neural networks to all fields, from pilotless helicopters to online advertising , Part of the reason is that I joined when few people developed these applications . If your company or school cares about a particular application , Please explore the possibility of machine learning in a targeted way . This allows you to see a potential 、 Creative applications that others have not done —— An application where you can perform unique operations .
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Develop sideline business . Even if you have a full-time job , Use your spare time to engage in an interesting project , No matter whether the project can make great progress in the end , Can help you stimulate creativity , And strengthen cooperation with other AI developers . When I was a full-time Professor , I am not engaged in online education “ Work ” Part of , Engaging in research and teaching is theoretically my job . But out of passion for education , This has become an interesting hobby of mine . My early experience of recording videos at home helped me later engage in online education in a more substantive way . There are many stories about startups in Silicon Valley , These start-ups all started with auxiliary projects . As long as there is no conflict with your employer , These projects can become stepping stones to important things .

If you have some project ideas , Which one should I choose ？ Here is a quick list of factors you need to consider ：

Will this project help you grow in technology ？ Ideally , It should be challenging enough to expand your skills , But it can't be too difficult , So that you have little chance of success . This will put you on the path to mastering greater technological complexity .
Do you have good teammates to work with ？ without , Can someone discuss with you ？ We have learned a lot from the people around us , Excellent collaborators will have a great impact on your growth .
Can it be a stepping stone ？ If the project is successful , Its technical complexity and / Or whether the business impact will make it an important stepping stone for large-scale projects ？（ If this project is bigger than what you have done before , Then it is likely to become such a stepping stone .）

Last , Avoid falling into analysis paralysis . It's meaningless to spend a month deciding whether to complete a project that can be completed in only a week . In your career , You will work on multiple projects , So you will have enough opportunities to perfect your thoughts , Know what is worth it . Considering a large number of possible AI projects , Instead of using traditional “ Get ready 、 Aimed at 、 launch ” Method , You can go through “ Get ready 、 launch 、 Aimed at ” Steps to speed up progress .

Please keep learning ！
Wu enda

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