24 March 2023

Bill Gates's article on the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)

I came across this article in LinkedIn. It's written by Bill Gates and as usual, his writing is fluid and and simple, like as if he's talking to me. I like his writing style in his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. Straightforward, uses simple language, and does not try to sound sophisticated nor convoluted. He just explains things as is, drawing from the breadth and depth of his knowledge and wisdom which he acquired over the years and from his extensive reading.

The article talks about how artificial intelligence (AI) has begun and we are going to be pretty much in the thick of it all soon. As a scientist in-training, I am excited what AI can do, particularly in disaster risk research. There's a professor at University College London who's doing a lot of research in AI, disaster, and agriculture. For sure there are others, but it just so happened I came across this faculty's profile. His main research question is, "Can AI reduce the risk?". It's straightforward, simple yet thought-provoking. It makes the researcher think what AI stuff can we do to reduce the risk? The answer is that there's SO MANY WAYS how with AI!!! Having seen this guy's profile makes me want to go into research about AI and disaster risk. The problem though is, I know nothing about AI. I am not an IT nor a maths person. Using it for my research will be an uphill climb over a long duration. But hey, I guess that's why I'm doing my Ph.D., right? 

I need to make sure that what I'm going to pursue for my Ph.D. is the one I'm going to do for the rest of my life. It doesn't mean though that I should already know a lot prior to undertaking my doctorate. But I should at least like the topic I'm pursuing. Now, whoever advised to me that I can do course correction during my post-doc research, we both know that's not going to happen. And we both know that's bullshit. I'm not that young and naïve anymore to believe that. Perhaps if I were in my early- to mid-20s, I probably would and I would just be believing everything you say. But girl, I'm fucking 37, pretty sure  you're less than a decade older than me. So don't give me any bullshit saying I just do course correction during my post-doc.

Anyway, I just hope things pan out well. Praying to the Lord that His Will be done. 

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