Role Models in AI: Michael McNair
Meet Michael McNair, the founder and CEO of 55B Labs, a lab that focuses on understanding neuroscience data and applying the research to AI products and services. He is also the creator of 55B Academy, where he teaches data science to underrepresented youth and the co-organizer for Practical AI Meetup in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Although Michael didn’t start out in the AI and neuroscience space, his unconventional path and entrepreneurial spirit led him to the realm of developing augmented reality (AR) and AI technology. His passion for learning and understanding the brain has been the motivating force behind much of his work, from developing a VR healthcare product that ended up winning for best HTC Vive Hack, presented by HTC Vive at the Reality Virtually Hackathon at MIT Media Lab, to now developing AI products informed by neuroscience research.
Learn more about Michael’s journey into the field of AR and AI, his passion for learning and researching the brain, and the people who inspire him today.
We interviewed Michael as part of AI4ALL’s Role Models in AI series, where we feature the perspectives of people working in AI in a variety of ways. Check back here for new interviews.
As told to Eunice Poon of AI4ALL by Michael McNair
EP: What prompted you to start 55B Labs? And how do you use AR and AI in your work?
It was a series of things that prompted us to start 55B Labs, and it has to do with my personal history, journey, and the fact that I saw a need.
I grew up in a family of health care professionals. My mom is a dietitian and also a theologian. My dad graduated from Yale in organizational health and started his own healthcare company when he was 22. So, I was surrounded by health care from early on.
Another thing that was personal to me was the fact that around 2015 — the same time that scientists started discovering the area 55B of the brain that deals with visual storytelling — I had my own issues with my brain due to stress and anxiety. At this point, I was already very interested in the brain and had done a lot of research around computational & cognitive neuroscience. But I think this personal breakdown gave me a push in the right direction and I started looking for ways to solve the issue.
As I continued my research, I didn’t really feel like there were companies out there that solved or addressed this particular problem. So I saw a need, and 55B Labs, named after the area A55B of the brain, came to fruition.
Codey.ai is 55B’s main product, and it’s a bot that comprehends sentiment and emotions through text. Through analyzing human emotions, Codey creates reports and analytics in real time to benefit workplace morale.
EP: Your background and experience include a variety and breadth of skills, from business administration to founding your own professional basketball training company, to your work in AR and AI. At what point did you get interested and involved in the AI and neuroscience space, and how did you gain the skills you needed to break into the technical space?
People have asked me about my background and how I got into AI because I didn’t take a very traditional route into the field. At the age of 22, I started Inspirational Hoops. I was an international professional basketball trainer, and I trained kids all over the country. During Inspirational Hoops, I started to ask myself questions like, how can we scale — and that got me thinking about developing an app for trainers and clients. That was the beginning of Moxie VR.
Moxie VR started as a fitness app. We got all the way through the wireframes and then I wanted to switch my focus. At the time, I was doing a lot of self-directed study and reading on the brain. I wanted to look more into how VR can affect the brain, and I wanted to apply VR to this fitness app we were building. So we started to build CAD models for VR headsets. But before we could fully dive into developing Moxie VR, I got accepted into the Reality Virtually Hackathon at the MIT Media Lab. I ended up winning for best Vive for a health care product to help elderly patients rehabilitate, and that changed my course again.
After the hackathon, I started learning more about AR, which got me developing Unicorn AR, an app that specialized in event spaces. After Unicorn AR, I was already set in my motion that what we were doing from a spatial mapping perspective had to include the mind. At this point, I had already read and learned so much about the mind and the brain, and now I wanted to start studying that through conducting experiments.
I think this was really where everything came together — from a career perspective, but also from a personal perspective. My family has had a history of mental health issues, as I said earlier, I had my own issues with my brain, and so that really took me out of the passenger seat to start engaging with how to solve these issues, because I knew it could be solved.
We live in a world of beauty and as a founder, I will continue to battle with things that happen. I needed this product to be available to not just myself but to others.
EP: What are some of the important things people should be doing to create a positive future for AI?
The number one thing is we need to include a lot more people of color and women in executive conversations.
I think that many problems wouldn’t have happened if we had a female or person of color in the important meetings. We all just want a seat at the table!
In order to have more diversity and inclusion in these executive meetings, we need to open up opportunities for minorities to have positions of power. If these positions of power are inaccessible, then how are we going to have a more diverse set of ideas addressing a wide range of issues? We won’t.
EP: Who were your role models growing up? And who are your role models now?
My role model growing up was my mom. I believe my mom set in motion where I am presently, back when I was 5 years old. My mom has been a minister for 30 years, and since I was 5, she told me the exact same scripture. Proverbs 18:21, “death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” Now, I run a natural language processing company, which is kind of ironic.
In terms of mentors I have now, I would have to say, my dad, my advisors, Maynard and Richard, other entrepreneurs, and the universe. My advisors are amazing because they help me stay in line with the mission and the vision of what we’re doing at 55B Labs. Richard has told me many times how much he believes in what we’re doing at 55B and that encouragement is very powerful.
When we first started the company, I remember I was at the point of breaking — but the feedback I got from friends, family, and other people really showed me that what we are building isn’t about me anymore. These are the people I surround myself with, these are my mentors.
EP: For someone who didn’t start with a traditional pathway into the field of AI, what advice do you have for young people who are interested in AI who might just be starting their career or academic journeys?
The way I got into the AI field was through my research in computational neuroscience and being an autodidact helps because you want to figure everything out. I taught myself how to code about two years ago. I taught myself languages like HTML, JavaScript, C#, Python, tableau, MATLAB and many others.
What I learned from that experience is that data and learning how to look at it is really important. So I’d say to the younger generation, start in data science, start in data engineering, learn how to look at data from the back of your phone and not the front.
Another huge thing I’d say is, don’t let other people’s perceptions of you get in your way.
There’s a preconceived notion that African Americans don’t know data or math. I’d say to the younger generation, don’t let that preconceived notion become a barrier to your learning. Change that perception and that can change everything.
About Michael
Michael McNair started his first company when he was 21, just like his father, and has been learning and developing for years. He is the founder and CEO of 55B Labs and 55B Academy, and the co-organizer for Practical AI meetup in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Before he founded 55B, Michael was developing VR products. In 2016, he built a healthcare product to help elderly patients rehabilitate. That product ended up winning best Vive, presented by HTC Vive at the Reality Virtually Hackathon at MIT Media Lab.
After his explorations with VR, he became interested in augmented reality and artificial intelligence and since then has been researching neuroscience data and applying the research to AI products and services at 55B Lab with their product, Codey.ai.
