No Amount of Experience is Enough
More than 20 years ago, I was one of the few students pursuing a degree in AI. Since then, I’ve built learning systems, stayed up-to-date with the latest developments, and invested in AI startups for over seven years. Despite that experience, I estimate I know roughly ~0.1% of what is going on in the AI market. Rest assured, you’re not alone in feeling a little behind.
Unpredictable Potential
Human brains primarily rely on heuristics — rules that guide our behavior, such as avoiding extremely hot surfaces. Modern AI mostly operates on a different approach: exploring numerous possible actions and their outcomes before selecting the best based on a scoring system. This approach allows AI to find and execute “good” actions that humans might never have considered. We first saw this behavior in public when Google’s AlphaGo made unexpected moves to defeat human Go champions, eight years ago.
If AI software from almost a decade ago was already generating “optimal” strategies humans did not understand, then you know we can’t predict the capabilities and outcomes that will emerge from the current boom. I suspect it will be a mix of our hopes and fears.
What Can You Do to Keep Up
Try out the latest tools and products, read the news and participate in the communities. You might even build a demo app or add AI features to an existing product. As with all new technology and trends, it will be overwhelming to attempt understanding of everything, so instead, it’s better to learn by doing.
Let me know your thoughts!
Sterling Road invests in idea stage and pre-seed B2B startups based in the US, Canada and UK.
