My Interest in Artificial Intelligence and Computing

The society we live in today has been so profoundly influenced by the invention of the computer that it is impossible to imagine a world without them. Stemming from Alan Turing’s seminal paper On Computable Numbers and evolving into the neural networks and supercomputers that exist at the cutting edge of modern computing, there is no doubt that computers have changed the world. But to me, what is even more impressive is the rate at which technology is continuing to evolve, propelling society into the future every single day. It’ is thanks to this technological evolution that the modern world of work now demands a vastly different set of skills fromto traditional professions. I believe I am a hardworking, and resilient individual, with an ability to creatively see problems and apply critical thinking techniques to analyse and solve them.

The rise of technology has called for a surge in problem solving; finding new, innovative methods of resolving underlying problems is a huge part of the industry, and prioritising critical thinking is the key to moving technology forwards. Problem solving comes naturally to me, and I am able to navigate to inventive solutions independently. My relationship with computers forms extends back to some of my earliest memories. From the age of seven, I would spend hours creating basic logic games on my home computer. The fact that a few lines of code could produce a working program fascinated me, and this sense of achievement still motivates me to this day. During GCSE computing, my projects were all based around python. Despite my love of this language, I longed to create bigger things; real life applications that would be used by more people than just me in my lessons. This influenced me to start developing for the web, creating LAMP stacks and hosting them on a raspberry pi at home. It was at this point that I built my first computer, which gave me both understanding from assembling the components, and a platform to learn to program. My teacher was hugely inspirational, and he introduced me to other programming languages, including C and Java as well as the UNIX operating system.

Being proficient in web development has enabled me to create websites professionally, withfor real world clients paying for my services, and the responsibility placed onin me to represent external businesses demonstrates my ability and professionalism. During my work experience at FUGRO Geos, I witnessed what it takes for an organisation to operate on an international scale. My final project was developing an application that is still in use by the company today, allowing spreadsheets to be compared graphically on the web.

One developing field that interests me most in computing is AI, and my understanding of biological organisms and natural networks that I have gained from A Level Biology will prove invaluable when applied to neural networks and machine learning. In 2017, I attended the CogX AI conference in London, and the overwhelming number of machine learning-based startups emphasised the vast potential of AI in the future. This emerging industry has huge possibilities, and I would love to be a part of it. I have found that many people see French as the “odd one out” of my A levels, but there are many similarities between language and computing. The logic behind the structure of French is what I find so captivating; the links between written language and the meaning conveyed by it. Digital translators are a huge real-world application of machine learning, and have facilitated the globalisation of many industries. Over the summer, I worked in the south of France at a camp where I was part of a group renovating a local canal. I have a real interest in travelling and working abroad, so completing a year in industry is something I would look for at university.

University is the next step for me, allowing my skills to develop and diversify even further, and giving me the knowledge and industry connections needed to enter the field.