• Question: Why did you do AI instead of chemistry or biology’s and physics ?

    Asked by anon-382323 on 2 Feb 2024.
    • Photo: Carl Peter Robinson

      Carl Peter Robinson answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      I’ve always been into computer science and artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science. It just seemed like a natural progression, like my curious nature was highly likely to be attracted to AI having been interested in computing for so long before that. I wish I’d also studied physics more capably, as I’ve found that it’s been very useful in the technical/engineering lines of work I’ve been in.

    • Photo: Luke Humphrey

      Luke Humphrey answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I studied History, Maths, and Physics at A level and did a Physics & Astrophysics degree, then went into a computational physics job. A little bit of coding and AI was taught in my degree but most of it I’ve learned on the job as it is relevant to our research.

      Nowadays I’m seeing that there are dedicated AI degrees though, and some excellent courses and even just really useful series on YouTube. Lots of ways to get into AI.

      If you’re considering which direction you want to focus on in your education, my advice would be not to worry too much about making the “wrong” choice because there are many different routes to the same place. I remember feeling a lot of pressure when choosing my degree topic because it felt like closing a door on all the subjects I wasn’t choosing, but that’s really not the case at all!

    • Photo: Rosemary J Thomas

      Rosemary J Thomas answered on 9 Feb 2024:


      I will answer this honestly. I was better at AI than chemistry, biology, or physics. Also, I enjoyed computer science more than anything else.

      I suggest going after your passion and work will not feel like work.

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