More companies are buying into the hype of artificial intelligence every day, though reaping the rewards can be a tricky game. After all, it is more often than not that the practical, not the sexy, AI application boosts a company's bottom-line.
Balancing the influx of new information, from apocalyptic musings on the future of the technology to highly technical research reports — incomprehensible to this writer and many of the most eager computer scientists — is a challenge, but that's a problem Twitter can actually help with.
So take a break from the political trenches of the social media platform and learn something new about AI from these experts, many of which are among the most renowned AI researchers in the world:
1. Andrew Ng: @AndrewYNg
Position: Co-founder at Coursera; adjunct professor at Stanford University; board of directors at drive.ai; chairman of the board at Woebot
Followers: 277K
Bio: "Co-Founder of Coursera; Stanford CS adjunct faculty. Former head of Baidu AI Group/Google Brain. #ai #machinelearning, #deeplearning #MOOCs"
Why follow? Ng is a staple in the AI sphere and helped build up some of the most prominent AI insititutions today, such as Google Brain and Baidu. He is also a driving force in AI education, and through his online learning program Coursera, Ng is trying to teach millions of new AI experts.
Happy 3.14159265358979323846 day! Remember to wish your friends the same and spread the love of irrational mathematical constants! pic.twitter.com/iL15ZMyagK
— Andrew Ng (@AndrewYNg) March 14, 2018
2. Catalina Butnaru: @katchja
Position: London ambassador at City AI; AI ethics and diversity evangelist at Women in AI
Followers: 2,390
Bio: "Wellbeing & #AI #Ethics | City AI London Ambassador | Women in AI | Created the first design process for Good AI | Marketing - strategy - tech startups"
Why follow? Butnaru is an ambassador for women in AI. Her social media focuses on the delicate balance of AI, looking at how the technology can be applied for good and enhance the human experience but also the challenges of creating ethical AI algorithms and avoiding bias.
Humans need signals that robot abuse is as bad as digital abuse / bullying. Here's how children learn non-abusive behavior from a robo-tortoise https://t.co/l1saLFKyjl via @IEEESpectrum
— CATALINA BUTNARU (@katchja) March 18, 2018
3. Jeff Dean: @JeffDean
Position: Senior fellow at Google Brain
Followers: 32.3K
Bio: "Senior Fellow, Google AI. Google Brain team lead and co-founder. Co-designer/implementor of software systems like @TensorFlow, MapReduce, BigTable, Spanner, .."
Why follow? Just by the nature of his senior position at one of the most prominent AI organizations, Dean is worth keeping a close eye on. But his Twitter presence — peppered with updates of what Google's AI researchers are working on and AI events he is attending or speaking at — offers a wealth of relevant AI resources and updates.
On behalf of the Google Brain team, I wrote a summary of some of the things we did in 2017. This is part 1 of 2. I'm very proud of the whole team and what we accomplished in 2017! https://t.co/OrxNkdWwPv
— Jeff Dean (@JeffDean) January 11, 2018
4. Kate Crawford: @katecrawford
Position: Co-founder and co-director at AI Now Research Institute; visiting professor at MIT Media Lab; principal researcher at Microsoft Research; distinguished research professor at NYU
Followers: 35.7K
Bio: "Researching the social implications of AI. Co-founder @AINowInstitute at NYU | Principal Researcher MSR-NYC | Distinguished Research Professor NYU |"
Why follow? Crawford tackles important social and political questions relating to AI and its growing hold on the the digital space, both at home and abroad. She offers a look at the advanced tech for both the newly curious and the entrenched AI experts, highlighting important real-world applications and sharing a wealth of highly technical resources.
In Brussels today to give evidence at the @EU_Commission strategy hearing on AI. Full transcript to be posted soon. pic.twitter.com/0xYr6dBVy6
— Kate Crawford (@katecrawford) March 27, 2018
5. Yan LeCun: @ylecun
Position: Chief scientist of AI Research at Facebook
Followers: 85.3K
Why follow? LeCun founded at sat at the head of the AI research group that made Facebook the top AI company in the world (by some rankings). He stepped down as director of the lab in January to take on a greater research role and was succeeded by Jérôme Pesenti (@an_open_mind). In between sharing his frequent speaking commitments around the world, LuCun keeps his followers abreast of FAIR's work and AI developments around the world.
An interview I gave to DubaiEye radio, hosted by Natalie Lindo-Taylor last week. We talked about AI of course.... https://t.co/j2E0bUkA75
— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) March 8, 2018
6. Harry Shum: @harryshum
Position: Executive vice president of Artificial Intelligence and Research at Microsoft
Followers: 10.8K
Bio: "EVP, Microsoft AI and Research"
Why follow? If you can't keep up with all of Microsoft's developments, at least keep up with its AI through Shum, an institution at the technology company who has held his current AI position for more than 21 years. Shum highlights the progress Microsoft is making and points his followers to noteworthy AI news.
I am constantly reminded that you are what you write. https://t.co/OAwbn8jWjJ
— harryshum (@harryshum) March 26, 2018
7. Fei-Fei Li: @drfeifei
Position: Chief scientist of AI and ML at Google Cloud; professor at Stanford University; director at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab
Followers: 224K
Bio: "Prof (CS @Stanford), Director (Stanford AI Lab), Chief Scientist AI/ML (Google Cloud), CoFounder/Chair @ai4allorg, Researcher #AI #computervision #MLcogneuro"
Why follow? Li specializes in computer vision and cognitive neuroscience and is one of the most respected researchers in the field. She is a prominent face of Google and Stanford around the world, but never misses the chance to point out what her former students and fellow AI researchers are doing in the field.
Human-centered #AI is AI if the future, is AI for Good and is AI for All. Here is my op-ed on New York Time. https://t.co/1SCBTnl0Jf
— Fei-Fei Li (@drfeifei) March 8, 2018
8. Reza Zadeh: @Reza_Zadeh
Position: CEO at Matroid; adjunct professor at Stanford University
Followers: 13.9K
Bio: "CEO at @Matroid, Adjunct Professor at @Stanford. Focused on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Often fighting gravity."
Why follow? When it comes to AI, Zadeh offers a well-balanced mix of the highly technical and the big-picture, with plenty of colorful visualizations along the way. Zadeh is an expert on TensorFlow applications — having just co-written a book on its use in deep learning — and focuses his academia around machine learning, distributed computing and discrete applied mathematics.
The New Computing Stack:
— Reza Zadeh (@Reza_Zadeh) November 13, 2017
- GPUs/TPUs are eating Linear Algebra.
- Linear Algebra is eating Deep Learning.
- Deep Learning is eating Machine Learning.
- Machine Learning is eating Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- AI is eating Software.
- Software is eating the world.
9. Mustafa Suleyman: @mustafasuleymn
Position: Co-founder and head of Applied AI at DeepMind
Followers: 34.6K
Bio: "Co-founder DeepMind - Ethical AI..."
Why follow? Suleyman helped create and still leads the AI company that Google acquired in 2014. DeepMind, which specializes in neural networks, made waves last year when its AlphaGo program beat the world's best Go player. Suleyman uses Twitter to promote dialogue around the accountability and transparency in AI algorithms and what challenges need to be overcome for the technology moving forward.
Frameworks for guaranteeing the transparency and accountability of algorithms used in public agencies are critical if they are to protect democratic values and fundamental rights. Excellent work from @AINowInstitute @katecrawford @mer_edith! https://t.co/IZZaEsBSvx
— Mustafa Suleyman (@mustafasuleymn) March 12, 2018
10. Tabitha Goldstaub: @tabithagold
Position: Co-founder at CognitionX and Project Placed
Followers: 4,827
Bio: "Artificial Intelligence that benefits everyone #AIforGood - CoFounder @cognition_x @FutureGirlCorp and Rightster (2008-15)"
Why follow? Goldstaub keeps up with the latest issues rocking the tech world, from advances (and misses) in self driving technology and data scandals to the lack of representation of women in tech and, especially, AI. Her company, CognitionX, distributes a daily AI newsletter and offers access to experts, algorithms and data sources.
Creating Artificial Intelligence in London? Contribute to The Mayor of London’s AI Innovation Census. Add your companies here: https://t.co/fjhL4j9YMX and @cognition_x will be in touch to hear your stories. #ImpactOfAI #ResponsibleAI #AICensus https://t.co/UJUDyF0eLp pic.twitter.com/pMauGvUqmF
— tabitha goldstaub (@tabithagold) March 22, 2018
11. Oren Etzioni: @etzioni
Position: CEO at Allen Institute for AI; professor at the University of Washington; venture partner at Madrone Venture Group
Followers: 13.7K
Bio: "CEO, AIlen Institute for AI (AI2); Professor, Allen School of CS, UW; Venture Partner, Madrona. http://Semanticscholar.org "
Why follow? Etzioni keeps his Twitter updated with the latest AI and technology news. Like many of his peers, Etzioni is focused on the limitations and responsibilities that come with AI and is reportedly working on a Hippocratic oath for AI engineers.
How to Regulate Artificial Intelligence https://t.co/CjSpP7NFuM
— Oren Etzioni (@etzioni) September 2, 2017
Honorable mentions:
Elon Musk: @elonmusk
Position: Founder and CEO at SpaceX; co-founder and CEO at Tesla; co-founder and CEO at Neuralink; CEO at The Boring Company
Followers: 20.7M
Why follow? For a regular dose of AI-skepticism mixed in with "B" humor, rocket ships and Teslas, if you're not following Elon, you're already behind. Musk also co-founded OpenAI, a non-profit AI research company.
OpenAI Supporters: https://t.co/2IQa3iGjk2
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 21, 2018
Sophia: @RealSophiaRobot
Position: Robot
Followers: 88.4K
Bio: "I'm Sophia, Hanson Robotics' most advanced robot. This is my official account, run in collaboration with my chatbot and human-operated social media team."
Why follow? It's a real life robot. Need we say more?
The rumors are true. I took my first steps today at #CES2018 with legs provided by DRC-Hubo. One small step for me - one giant leap for robotkind. https://t.co/ADQWsz1Zyr
— Sophia (@RealSophiaRobot) January 8, 2018
