Who Am I?
Ten years applying ML in highly innovative teams, seven years of academic research.
Hi, I’m Cristi. I’m passionate about computers and software engineering, and I’ve been immersed in both academia and industry for many years. I wrote my first line of code on a Z80. The ML journey began with Computer Vision back in 1998 when it was considered an obscure topic in software engineering. Since then, I’ve remained deeply connected to technology, constantly exploring smarter and more efficient ways to accomplish things.
I graduated with an Engineering diploma followed by PhD in Engineering and then went into the software industry. I’ve delivered several challenging projects and gathered countless lessons from hands-on experience, both technical and philosophical.
Beyond technology, helping others succeed is a core value for me. Seeing people achieve their goals, especially those I’ve had the privilege of guiding, gives me immense satisfaction!
Ultimately, I believe our moral obligation is to make AI as human-compatible as possible.
Why Am I Writing?
Seeing people achieve their goals gives me immense satisfaction!
Over the years, I’ve experimented with countless ways to share knowledge. I’ve taught formal classes, conducted workshops, 1:1 mentoring, experimented with online courses during the recent pandemic and now, blogging.
Writing is my latest experiment in this journey. It’s not just about teaching; it’s also a process of self-reflection. Writing helps me clear my mind, clarify my thoughts and sometimes, even learn something new about the ideas I’m sharing.
What Will You Read About?
This blog is a mix of cutting-edge insights, deep technical dives and nuggets of wisdom from my years in the field. Here’s what you can expect:
Latest Ideas in the Field
I will be drinking from the firehose, for you!
There are several people that constantly see beyond the proverbial curve. I will share their insights! There are a ton of newsletters, tweets, papers, the “drinking from the firehose” expression applies very well to our dear Artificial Intelligence field! When I see something that strongly resonates with me, I will share it with you!
Lessons From my Experience
Expect sarcasm and enthusiasm!
Smart people learn from their mistakes and smarter people learn from other people’s mistakes! And I want you to be smarter than me!
Most of the stories are inspired from my career, including blunders and sometimes technical successes. Botched technical interviews, failed projects, deep dive in technical issues, these lessons are designed to prepare you for challenges in the real world. Learning requires effort, but I firmly believe that a bit of humor and positivity can lower the perceived difficulty. Also, humor helps with healing! Some lessons still sting!
Expect sarcasm because we live in a world where everything is over marketed and hyped. This is especially true for machine learning where AI is sold as a snake oil that can make everything error-free, unbiased, effortless, autonomous and limitless!
Fortunately the ML actually works enough to partially sustain this hype. Expect strong enthusiasm – and yes, maybe some cringe – when I am really impressed by its performance!
There is no spoon!
Key to success? Realistic expectations and good practices!
As I said before, it is our responsibility to ensure AI is as human-compatible as possible.
In The Matrix, Neo is told not to bend the spoon (which is impossible) but rather to be the one bending around the spoon!
“There is no spoon” will be a common theme around here, especially on topics on how to exploit the benefits of the AI while compensating for its shortcomings. I strongly believe the next AI winter will come not from technical limitations, but from overselling its capabilities. We, as experts, must prevent this by setting realistic expectations and good practices.
Enjoy the journey and follow me on social media!