Reza Sadri, the director of the new AI Bootcamp in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS), comes to Caltech with a mission: to empower scientists and engineers with a deeper understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and its applications within research. Drawing on Sadri's extensive industry experience, the AI Bootcamp seeks to bridge the gap between academia and AI technology. In this interview, Sadri shares insights into the bootcamp's goals, target audience, and long-term vision.
What is the AI Bootcamp?
The main goal of the EAS AI Bootcamp is to help participants understand when and how to effectively use AI within their research, as well as to identify its appropriate contexts and limitations. Right now, this bootcamp will be a quick but intensive one-week course running from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and will reoccur eight to 10 times a year. However, we are open to adjusting the frequency and duration based on the feedback we receive.
The bootcamp is geared toward graduate students and postdocs, as these groups stand to gain significant advantages from incorporating AI into their research.
As a comparison, 40 years ago, there were a lot of physicists and chemists who could benefit from using a computer, but they didn't know how. At that time, computers were too expensive and difficult to use. But now, the computer has become a daily tool for everyone. Scientists can benefit from computers quite a bit-running models, doing calculations, performing research, etc. Now, AI is at the stage that the computer was 40 years ago. We must bring scientists on board to be able to use AI effectively.
Who is the ideal candidate for the AI Bootcamp?
The ideal candidate is a graduate student or postdoc who already knows Python and the basic math required to understand AI-linear algebra, calculus, and probability theory. In addition to knowing the underlying science that goes behind machine learning (ML), the ideal participant in the bootcamp should also have relevant research that AI can help with. One goal of the bootcamp is to help participants map their research to fit into a framework where ML works best.
Reza Sadri teaches a workshop at the AI Bootcamp Credit: Vicki Chiu/Caltech
