ONE YEAR IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Last week, I promised to talk about how this "AI thing" officially started for me.

Funny enough, I started getting cold feet (or is it fingers) before doing this. I'm not naturally inclined to talking about myself
Throughout my sojourn as an undergraduate, I was the perfect definition of a generalist (and I still am). From social media, tax, IP, religion, sexuality, law, economics, politics, arbitration etc.

You name it - I knew something about a lot of stuff.
Going into final year, I realized this was not a sustainable way. It might be fun to be an egghead, but I knew that if i focused my energies on just one or a select group of things, I'd have more success.

Before this time, I had already set up @DigiLawNG
I had to take time to reflect on what I really found appealing. For me that was technology.

Through everything I did, my interest in technology always came forward, even in tax.

But through my work with @DigiLawNG, I realized that even "technology" was still too wide an area
I had to go deeper. Of the different forms of digital technology gaining ground in the 21st century, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain caught my interest the most.

Truth be told, I had a preference for Blockchain then.

#ArtificialIntelligence
So how did i settle on Artificial Intelligence? I gave myself a weird rule. I would come up with a Long Essay topic from both fields.

Whichever was approved, was what I would focus on.

Sounds weird and a bit illogical, I know.

#ArtificialIntelligence
I tend to overthink things at the expense of action.

Some of my best decisions are those I didn't think through to be honest, like setting up @DigiLawNG

But that's a story for another day.

As it turns out, my AI topic was approved.

#ArtificialIntelligence
This was November 2018. At the time, I had a better understanding of Blockchain than I did of AI.

I had to speedread some articles on AI back then, just to have something to say, for my first meeting with my supervisor.

#ArtificialIntelligence
I should also give credit to my supervisor, Dr Kunuji.

I thought I was good at research before I met him. Ah!! Dr Kunuji refined me with his high standards. I wrote Chapter 1 & 2 twice before they were acceptable.

He brought out the perfectionist in me, and I'm grateful
Some of my articles and papers after that time take me up to 3 months to write, just because I want it to be perfect.

In the course of writing my Long Essay, I truly learnt about AI. I saw its lapses and the opportunities.

This was exactly what I needed
Here was a fallow field that no one was paying particular attention, especially those from humanities or professional background.

If I got in on time, I would be ahead of the curve before the rush started.
There are examples of this in other fields. Prof. Abiola Sanni got involved in taxation in the 80's at a time when lawyers did not consider it a viable practice area.

Today, he consults for the govt. and the Big 4, amongst many others.
So why am I getting involved in AI?

Because I'm an opportunist, plain and simple. This is not a passion or chasing the dream kind of thing.

All the evidence and research points to the fact AI will be what oil is today in the next 10 to 15 years.
Right now, all the attention is focused on developing AI.

To develop AI, you must train as a data scientist and/or machine learning engineer.

No one is really talking about the rules that will guide the development and application of AI.

This is where I've been focused on.
The same thing happened with the oil industry in Nigeria. When it first started, it was largely unregulated and free for all. Only the oil companies themselves made profit.

When the govt. took notice and decided to create a legal framework for this industry...
...they turned to the first set of lawyers who had been studying and publishing about this industry. Many of them are founding partners of some of Nigeria's top firms.

The same thing will happen with AI in the next decade
When the govt. decides to take a strong position with respect to this technology, I will be one of those well-positioned to advice on this.

Why?

Since I shut the chapter on my Long Essay, and was graded for it, I have been committed to daily research and learning about AI
Except maybe for weekends or rare occasions when the spirit of laziness ties my destiny down 😌, a day hasn't gone by without me learning something AI-related.

This is worthy of mention too - the only law course I had an A in was my Long Essay, on Artificial Intelligence.
When I saw that grade, something hit me. It was like some form of divine confirmation that this was the right path.

Now back to the story.

It's not enough to just read about this stuff, people have to know that you understand these things.
So in this past one year I've published a book, something I never expected to happen at the beginning of the year. I've published, and will still publish more papers on AI & Data Protection.

Studying AI made me realize that you can't go far in AI without a background in Data
I've enrolled for programs, online and offline about AI. On WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Twitter, I constantly talk and share AI/technology related content.

So far, I've been able to create a small reputation amongst my peers along this track.

And it has paid in small ways
A top law firm in Lagos paid me for my book (which I made available for free).

The same firm that I was applying to for internship, no response 😞

This time, it was the Founding Partner contacting me about the book.
I've also been contacted by top govt. officials at the federal level.

It's only been a year, and i still consider myself a nobody when the big picture is laid out, but these are sign posters that I'm on the right path.

There's more to the story, but I'll tell you when it clicks
In summary, I think the key takeaways are

- Focus (intentionally pick one or two things, discard the rest)

- Profile (Learn all you can, and share all you learn. This way, your name becomes synonymous with your chosen field)

- Consistency (Whatever you do, do it regularly)
And when small things happen along the way that brings you joy and encouragement, don't forget to thank God.
You can follow @Akin_Agunbiade.
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