A Question For the AI Optimists
I have become somewhat obsessed with the ideas that are being studied in data science and machine learning — and the greater concepts behind artificial intelligence. I think I am one of many with this sentiment.
Currently, I am a researcher that uses machine and deep learning methods to better understand neurodegenerative disorders. During the last few months, I find myself venturing randomly throughout the interwebs looking at the architectures that I can barely grasp and reading papers that are inspiring, intriguing and most probably confusing.
The number of papers concerning these methods is exponentially increasing — and it feels as though this is all happening at an unprecedented pace. There are more conferences, more startups, more blog posts, videos, and reflections on all that is occurring in this space.
To complicate matters further, there are sub-communities within the larger AI sphere that are working on their own techniques, activation functions, dimensionality reduction methods, building datasets, etc. The network effects must be through the roof.
It’s crazy.
Is this excitement and fervor that embodies our community similar to that of the time before the previous AI winters that everyone seems to talk about as if it happened so long ago?
Are we due for another downturn? Like the stock markets or the oil and gas industry that naturally goes through booms and busts?
If so, can we prepare ourselves for another AI winter?
Who knows.
I guess one thing is for certain — many different companies, startups, research groups, and individuals are deriving great value from these methods as they have opened the door into a predictive power that we have not seen before.
Another truth is that hindsight is always 20/20.
I am curious about what sort of phenomenon is happening or will soon happen where we will be able to comment and say, “That was so obvious, but hindsight is always 20/20.”
Aren’t you?
Thanks for reading.
