You're looking to develop your technical skills in AI. What can a mentor do to help?

?AI world is really huge, and the role of a mentor in this journey can be very transformative, especially when it comes to boosting your confidence in this journey: ? ?- A mentor provides not just guidance, but also support ? ?- Through their experience, mentors can help demystify complex AI concepts ? ?- They can also help you set realistic goals ? ?- And most importantly, celebrating your successes, no matter how small. ??This is very important in a role of the mentor ? ?So basically, a mentor does not only impart knowledge but also plays a critical role in building your confidence. ?

Having a mentor not only boosts your confidence but helps you by recognizing your strengths, addressing weakness, pave a learning and development plan.

Find the right person who can help guide you in getting your own hands-on experience. There's a huge difference between understanding a concept in theory and applying it in practice. A mentor can provide you with hands-on projects that challenge you to apply what you've learned, pushing you to think creatively and critically. Look into legal professionals and academics who are actively involved in AI and technology law through publications, conferences, or legal panels. Many professionals share their work on professional networks like LinkedIn or similar platforms, which can give you insights into their areas of focus. Look for mentors who are genuinely interested in sharing their knowledge and helping others grow.

Most critically, in my experience, is that a mentor can help keep you from going down rabbit holes. Artificial intelligence is a very big field -- it's not merely LLMs and computer vision models, but also statistical learning models and good old fashioned AI. A good mentor can help lead you toward techniques you may not have even known existed but are a much better fit for your problem. For example, I worked on a system where folks wanted to use large language models for a problem that *required* correctness. There's really no way to do that in the language model space. But since we were dealing with semi-structured data, we could transform it to a symbolic problem and use inductive logic programming. This saved us a ton of time and money.

After working almost 20 years in many areas of AI, I am not looking for a mentor. But in 2005-6, I read "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" by Peter Norvig. That book was really the best mentor to me.

?Mentors can help you expand your network. ? ?- They can serve as your bridge to the wider AI community, introducing you to professionals, experts, and similar people, whose insights and experiences can be invaluable to your growth? ?- They can guide you towards quality resources such as workshops, conferences, and seminars ?- The same thing goes for guiding towards quality courses, books, etc ?- They can encourage engagement with online communities and forums

A mentor can introduce you to their network of professionals in the AI field. He or she can recommend relevant networking events, conferences, and meetups. LinkedIn is a good place to find mentors, network, get recommendations to enhance visibility.

Just learning technical skills is not enough. Equally or perhaps more important is to understand the usage, and where, how to best use the technology. It is only more true for AI. A mentor can help guide you come out of the technical box and unbox the true potential of your skills.

The right mentors with the right attitude towards AI - who too has a growth mindset, can open up doors for you introducing you to networks and resources.

I absolutely agree! I have been a huge advocate in preaching the Power of your Circle. Seek resources and also be a resource for other professionals seeking to align themselves in digital spaces. I attended a tech conference about 5-7 years ago and it has opened doors I never would have dreamed were possible, and it’s only the beginning! The Power of the Circle starts with intentionality, having a clear vision about what you want and aligning your actions with your words. Being a quality person and showing up authentically. Finally educating yourself on your craft. LinkedIn has truly leveled the playing field, but it’s your competency and hunger for knowledge that will determine if you remain in the room. Continued success. #LetsAITogether

Certamente um mentor pode ser de extremo valor quando o assunto é a obten??o de insights práticos de sobre como se desenvolver no que tange habilidades com IA. Um mentor pode compartilhar sua experiência pessoal, destacando os desafios e solu??es do mundo real que os livros e cursos muitas vezes n?o abordam. Podem ainda orientar você através de projetos práticos, facilitando o aprendizado por meio da execu??o e aplica??o de conceitos de IA em situa??es reais além de revisar seu trabalho, mentores fornecem feedback específico, ajudando você a entender n?o apenas o que precisa ser melhorado, mas como fazê-lo. E por fim, mas n?o menos importante, seu mentor poderá manter você informado sobre as últimas tendências e práticas de IA no mercado.

When it comes to developing your AI skills, or most skills to that end, self-awareness is half the battle. A good mentor can give you rapid feedback on your work. Having this feedback loop is key to honing your skills.

Many times we are struck on a problem without prior experience. Mentors who have executed similar projects can give us valuable guidance on where the pitfalls will be on these types of projects. This is especially true which trying to map ML algorithm metrics to practical business metrics.

Gaining practical insights is an understatement. I think you can do a lot of courses to show them off on your LinkedIn page, but if you have an AI practitioner guiding you, then you have an advantage to build a meaningful career. The most obvious use case I can think of is finding a prompt engineer who can teach you how to prompt the AI models to get the best output - whether that's writing code or debugging existing code. Also, learn how to write Python and work with someone who understands how to productionize AI products. Easier said than done. Anyone can access an Open AI API but then you need to also know pinecone, langchain, langfuse and other tools to build a product users will actually WANT.

In general, my philosophy for mentoring (and learning) AI centers on hands-on experience. I see four benefits of having an AI mentor/instructor: Demystifying AI: The first benefit of having a mentor is to help see generative AI as a tool you can actually use, not just some mysterious, complex technology. Structured Learning: A mentor can break learning down into manageable steps, providing a clear learning path to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Focused Exploration: A mentor can help pick relevant use cases to make the learning journey more relevant. Feedback and support: A mentor can clarify concepts, provide feedback, and help learners use generative AI in an efficient, ethical, and responsible way.

Imagine an AI enthusiast interested in healthcare, who meets a mentor specializing in predictive analytics for patient care. They share insights from a project where algorithms predict patient health outcomes to prevent hospital readmissions. Inspired, he delves into predictive analytics, learning to analyze patient data and develop similar algorithms. Under his mentor's guidance, he specializes in this niche, combining his passion for healthcare with AI to innovate in patient care efficiency. This direct mentorship steers him towards a fulfilling career path.

O aprendizado e aplica??o de Inteligência Artificial é tanto sobre descoberta pessoal quanto sobre aquisi??o de conhecimento técnico. Ao ter um mentor ao seu lado você pode ter uma vantagem imensurável nesta explora??o. Nesta linha ele poderá lhe apoiar a identificar áreas de IA que est?o mais alinhadas com seus interesses pessoais e profissionais, incentivando-o a mergulhar profundamente nesses temas. Poderá apresentar domínios emergentes ou subestimados dentro da IA, como a ética em IA ou a intersec??o entre IA e outras áreas de conhecimento, expandindo seus horizontes além dos campos tradicionais. Ou mesmo dependendo de seu interesse, um mentor pode fornecer orienta??o especializada e recomenda??es personalizadas de recursos e projetos.

When new technologies come out (or older ones become more popular) like AI, it is natural for people to want to begin developing their skills in this area. In my experience, people will achieve their best results if they focus in the area that excites them. As a mentor, I try to ask my mentees a lot of questions so that they can find the right fit for them, and not simply follow what they believe they should do.

We don't know what we don't know. So to use mentor in AI, we can explore our ideas and imagine the future together. AI is coming with more and more concept. So the mentor is the partner to discover the new areas and also apply to our current works.

Just jumping into Ai just because it's a leading technology is not going to help . There are multiple things in Ai some will really fascinate you and some will just make you scratch your head . So finding the side of Ai which suits you the best is really important For example Some people who have good communication skills can really do great in natural language processing or one who is passionate about electronics can do well in robotics. So utilisation of your passion in Ai development is important

One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to have a 1-1 relationship with your mentor, you don’t even have to ever know each other to benefit. Here’s what I do: 1. Find no more than 2 people who are a chapter (or book) ahead of me, and achieving the results I want to achieve. 2. Follow them on social media, read their blogs, watch their videos, read their books. I engage with their content and offer to help them with my skills and expertise. I focus on giving, not taking. 3. I do what they do, I take similar actions. I use their success as a guide to model what works. 4. I document my journey, I become the person that is one chapter ahead for someone else. I write blogs, record videos, author books. Inspire and be inspired.

Personally LinkedIn is my virtual office and I've got many mentee reaching out to me regularly. It is a platform where you could fine a lot of very helpful information about your potential mentor. The size of their network, their main interests and expertise, their posts and articles etc...

Finding a mentor involves intentional self-reflection on your needs and goals. Identify why you need a mentor and the areas you seek guidance in. Research to find mentorship programs or individual mentors aligned with your objectives. Craft thoughtful outreach, explaining why their mentorship is valuable to you and how you envision the relationship benefiting both parties. Effective communication and a clear understanding of what you hope to achieve are crucial for establishing a mutually beneficial mentor-mentee relationship.

Platforms such as LinkedIn, Discord, Twitter and GitHub are very useful for finding great mentors who will help you reach your AI goals. Another way to find mentors is by attending meetups, hackathons, workshops, webinars, and similar events related to AI. Lastly, you can hire a freelance mentor from Upwork or similar sites.

At a professional level, it is easiest to find a mentor from your network. If a face-to-face mentorship is something you desire (many people prefer this), the best way is to find someone in your geography by narrowing down on a combination of : 1) Presence in my network (like Linkedin) 2) Met him/her in a summit (EX: AI summit, Hackathon or Developers group) 3) Evaluate presence of entrepreneurs in the field of data in your geography, who can provide you a real time glimpse of how AI works for them in their venture

Successful mentorship is a two-way street that requires commitment, respect, and clear communication from both parties. Set specific goals, be open to feedback, and ensure regular check-ins to discuss progress and adjust goals as needed. This structured approach helps in maximizing the mentorship experience and achieving your learning and career objectives in AI.

In my view, the primary role of a mentor is to paint the broader AI landscape and assist in identifying where and how your skills can potentially fit in.

Like many fields, a mentor doesn't necessarily have to be a senior with decades of experience. A mentor who is just a year or two ahead of you in your journey can be equally valuable. Their experience is fresh, and the stumbling blocks they've faced may still be present in the industry. Don't be afraid to consider many experience levels when choosing a mentor.

A mentor can provide guidance, support, and feedback. They can offer resources for learning, help navigate complex concepts, provide real-world examples, offer challenges to push skills further, and help with problem-solving when encountering obstacles. Additionally, mentors can offer encouragement, motivation, and constructive criticism to foster growth and improvement.

The AI mentors can significantly boost your technical skill development by offering personalized guidance, sharing their experience, and providing feedback on your work. They can recommend the best resources and learning strategies and assist in solving technical challenges you might face in your projects. Moreover, a mentor can introduce you to professional networks and suggest practical projects to enhance your portfolio. This tailored support and insight can accelerate your learning process, helping you achieve your goals more efficiently and effectively.