Hi! I am Ying Ling from the sunny island of Singapore, and I want to help YOU become conversant in AI and machine learning!
I have a Bachelor of Business Administration from NUS Business School where I majored in Marketing
(so nothing technical about my background at all). I worked for 4 years in Market Research and HR
(again, nothing technical) before I quit my full-time job and began learning Python in July 2017.
I started with Udemy Complete Python Bootcamp: From Zero to Hero by Jose Portilla,
and subsequently enrolled in the 3 month Data Science Immersive with General Assembly
from November 2017 to February 2018.
In March 2018, I begin the next leg of my journey as a Python Developer. Fingers crossed!!
1) People who just want to know about technologies that they can actually employ to change their lives!
2) Beginners embarking on their machine learning journey.
For the former, I will be posting on say, tips and tricks to solve problems in our daily lives.
For the latter, I will be sharing on the how-tos for beginners to create their own basic tools to change the world,
a step at a time. I am nowhere near any PhDs or even a Masters Degree, so do pardon the lack of math - it will be more... conceptual haha.
Before September 2017, I was a clueless human being. Clueless about technology, about AI.
I like innovation, but the only form of innovation that came to mind back then, was innovation as in FMCG
(fast-moving consumer goods) where companies like Unilever or Nestle develop new products (thanks to my markeing
background, see).
One fine day, I got to know Kianhean.com (in person) who introduced me to the world of Alexa,
Apple TV, and Telegram ChatBots. I was hooked - and Python, Udemy and General Assembly soon came along.
Now, I was very fortunate to have Kianhean.com open my eyes to this amazing world.
But two questions sprout from here:
1) With all the crazy Machine Learning that's going on, how much of it is really translated into practical tools that
bring actual value to businesses?
I'm not referring to big companies like Google, Facebook or Alibaba, I'm talking about SMEs (small and mid-sized
enterprises). The ones who are able to effectively harness these technologies to bring value to the end consumer,
will be David; the giants who struggle to fully embrace these technologies, Goliath. We will witness a lot of these
changes in our lifetime (it's going to be a rollercoaster ride!!), but we are still early in the game.
I want to be part of team David (of course!) and also, improve our human lives.
What differentiates us as humans? The ability to ignore our physical limitations and create tools that enable us to perform
what we previously could not. We tame fire, control electricity, and manipulate our environment, to control the events
taking place in our lives.
The first time I put on an Oculus Rift, I marveled at the beauty within. The moment I took it off and came back to reality,
the full power of it hit me. It can transport you to an alternate reality and you are absolutely, completely submerged.
I was literally floored when I returned - I had truly believed in the Virtual Reality.
And the environment makes the person. We can now truly, fully manipulate the environment. We can control the events taking place
in our lives.
But this is only confined to VR. Before we all move there, AI is taking the lead in changing the real world around us.
It's exciting times ahead, and I am eager to see how our environment, our lives will change.
2) But what about everyone else who is still unaware?
I hope to start somewhere, to provide a hook for people to even first get into this world.
For people to incorporate tech hacks to simplify their lives, and for people who want to actually work in this field,
guides to help them get in.
I hope this blog serves as an inspiration for people to know that:
1) There is so much cool stuff going on that will CHANGE YOUR LIVES
2) You don't need to be a PhD or any technical background if you want to move into this field
3) You can create your own cool stuff too!
If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to drop a comment on any of my posts, or message me on LinkedIn!
I would greatly appreciate any pointers for improvement as well :)
Cheers!