Question: What did you to become researching scientist artificial intelligence

Carl Peter Robinson answered on 1 Feb 2024:

Inquisitive question 🙂 I used to work as a software engineer in the aerospace industry developing in C++, C#, JavaScript and PostreSQL (a database query language). After some years at the same company, I realised my career was not progressing and I wasn’t learning anything new. So, I saved some money, quit my job and went back to full-time university, as an adult, to study a advanced computer science master’s degree. I had started reading about artificial intelligence by then (late 2000s) and found it very interesting, so my idea was to look for something in robotics or AI. While at university, towards the end of my one-year master’s course, I was approached by a lecturer in the Computer Science department who asked if I would like to interview for a PhD in Machine Learning and Wearable Sensors. It sounded fascinating and something inside me said, “Hey Carl, this might be the thing that takes you to your next chapter in life. And it sounds super cool!” So I interviewed for the position and after a few weeks, I found out I had succeeded in getting the role!

That’s when the hard work began: four years of studying and researching machine learning and electromyography (the electrical signals your muscles produce when they move). After lots and lots (and lots) of reading research articles and conference papers, learning Python, exploring and creating datasets, and performing experiments using different kinds of machine learning model architecture, I wrote and submitted my thesis. I successfully defended the work in December 2020, thereby getting my PhD. The qualification made me, and my parents, very proud, but it was more about the research and scientific skills I picked up during my time in academia that helped me get my next job as a data scientist in an Emerging Technology Lab. That’s where I continue to apply scientific and research methods to my daily work, where I get to explore all kinds of possibilities with artificial intelligence.

Bear in mind, my personal path might well be different to yours if you choose to pursue a career in artificial intelligence research. I would recommend going to university though, to study a subject that involves machine learning and some data science. Also, learn to program in Python and either MATLAB or R: all very useful for AI research. And, most of all, be curious about what interests you, never be afraid to ask questions, and learn to persevere when things get difficult. Not everything works out first time, you have to be willing to try again and keep going. We all get things wrong or fail at certain times. The successful people dust themselves down and go again: “maximum effort!”