Five Archetypes of AI-Experts
3 min readJan 26, 2025
Below are five archetypes of AI experts. I hope I’m not stereotyping too much ;-)
1. The Theoretical Wizard
- What they do: These folks speak the secret language of math that most of us thought was fictional after high school. They spend their days lost in a forest of tensors, stochastic gradients, and optimization problems.
- Quirks: Can recite theorems with the same fervor others reserve for karaoke lyrics. Also, they might look up from their papers every few weeks and wonder, “Wait, what year is it?”
- Philosophical vibe: They’re the Aristotles of AI, focused on the “why” rather than the “how.” They craft the rules of reality, then sit back and let the rest of us muck it up.
2. The Data Hoarder
- What they do: These experts collect, clean, and process the lifeblood of AI — data. Without them, machine learning models would be no smarter than a potato trying to do calculus.
- Quirks: They have an intimate relationship with spreadsheets and databases. They’ll preach endlessly about the importance of “clean data” while side-eyeing your messy CSV files like they discovered mold in your fridge.
- Philosophical vibe: Think of them as the Stoics of AI. Calmly accepting that 90% of their job deals with the world’s chaos (inadequate data labeling).
3. The Model Tinkerer
- What they do: These engineers turn theoretical concepts into functioning code. They’re the MacGyvers of AI, tweaking neural nets, hyperparameters, and architectures until something works.
- Quirks: Lives for the sweet dopamine hit of a decreasing loss function. However, they also live in perpetual fear of their GPU budget running out.
- Philosophical vibe: They’re the existentialists of AI, embracing the absurdity of debugging and questioning whether the model will ever genuinely converge.
4. The Ethics Evangelist
- What they do: These experts are here to remind the rest of us that just because we can doesn’t mean we should. They tackle thorny issues like bias, privacy, and the implications of creating smarter machines than your average middle schooler.
- Quirks: They speak fluently, “devil’s advocate,” often muttering, “But what about the unintended consequences?” They’re slowing down the AI hype train so it doesn’t derail society.
- Philosophical vibe: A mix of Kant and Cassandra. Constantly worried about doing the right thing and rarely believed until it’s too late.
5. The AI Visionary
- What they do: These are the rockstars, CEOs, and TED talkers who speak about AI as “revolutionizing humanity.” They promise utopias while also quietly hoping their robots don’t become Skynet.
- Quirks: Obsessed with the future but slightly allergic to technical details. They can make a slideshow about AI that’s so inspiring that it makes you forget the demo failed halfway through.
- Philosophical vibe: Nietzschean übermensch energy, redefining what’s possible, and occasionally sounding like a Bond villain.
At a glance:
This might be of interest:
You can read an excerpt from the book “Critical Thinking is Your Superpower” here:
