Navigating AI (Part 1): The Quest For Artificial Intelligence

Last week, I watched NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on the CES 2025 stage unveil a range of groundbreaking products: the GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs with the Blackwell architecture, the Cosmos platform for physical AI, AI world foundation models for robotics/EVs, and Project DIGITS for accessible supercomputing. As if that wasn't enough to digest for a week, in a separate interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Mark Zuckerberg suggested that within the next five years, AI could significantly affect the roles of many mid-level engineers. This flood of new advancements has left many feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about their job prospects, especially students and aspiring data professionals.

In response, I’ve decided to write this Navigating AI series to:

1. explore our pursuit of AI—how it has evolved to this point;

2. highlight the key forces shaping AI’s development; and

3. look ahead at what professionals can expect and where opportunities lie for students.

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AI seeks to emulate human intelligence.

Initially, computers were merely used as tools for simple automation.

The exponential growth in data volume paved the way for AI advancements.

Today, AI has evolved to have genuine comprehension capability.

Recap: The Quest for AI