From Sci-Fi Dreams to Reality: How I Got Interested in AI

I wouldn't call myself an expert in artificial intelligence.

However, I've spent the last decade tracking AI's evolution—from reading research papers and investing in chip companies, to now spending countless late nights experimenting with every new AI model I can get my hands on.

Here's how I first got interested in AI:

Like many kids who grew up with Star Wars, I fell in love with intelligent machines through C-3PO and R2-D2. Yet, watching The Matrix transformed this childhood fascination into something deeper—a philosophical obsession with AI.

My interest went beyond science fiction. In college, while originally studying neurobiology, I encountered my first neural networks. The parallels between biological brains and artificial ones were fascinating. In 2015, I created a list of the 15 most promising technologies for the next 50 years. I ranked AI second, just behind genetic engineering, and began investing (modest sums as a broke college student) in companies like NVIDIA and AMD (though I regrettably sold way too early around 2018).

I followed the field closely, even completing an online program from MIT in AI's business applications. But it always felt academic, theoretical—until ChatGPT arrived in late 2022. Within hours of using it, I realized this wasn't just another tech breakthrough. For the first time, I could genuinely imagine the pathway to a machine that could think with me, challenge my ideas, and expand my capabilities in ways that felt almost magical. Like many others, I was immediately hooked, diving headfirst into every AI tool I could find.

But the real transformation came through AI coding assistants in early 2024. Suddenly, I was able to build software I never thought possible—creating AI-enabled products that would have been far beyond my technical abilities just a year ago.

That childhood dream of intelligent machines has evolved into something far more tangible: the ability to actually build them.