The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI

Among science’s greatest virtues, however, is its ability to recast a lesson in humility as a moment of possibility.

For all our limitations, human perception is the antithesis of this. We see the world holistically, not just identifying but understanding its contents—their relationships, their meanings, their pasts, and their futures. The gist. We aren’t merely witnesses, but storytellers. It felt like it was time for algorithms to learn how to do the same.

It was as if he wanted to catalog the world—not by any formal means, and not even for any particular reason, but simply because he found joy in the process.

Each flash of narrative color made me feel special, like my mother had pulled back some secret curtain and shown me possibilities I’d never have imagined otherwise.

The founding ideals of this country, however imperfectly they’ve been practiced in the centuries since, seemed as wise a foundation as any on which to build the future of technology: the dignity of the individual, the intrinsic value of representation, and the belief that human endeavors are best when guided by the many, rather than the few.

It may seem trivial, but moments like these were exactly what motivated my obsession. They’re what vision is truly about. It’s not merely a “sense,” at least not in the way a thermometer or Geiger counter “senses,” but rather the catalyst of an experience. A flood of information and emotions alike, unleashed by the color of a gas station sign speed

Where we once sought to give our algorithms a kind of encyclopedic awareness—all categories and things—we now aim for something richer. A more intimate understanding of the spaces and moments and even meaning in which those things are embedded. An expansion of not just quantity, but detail and nuance. New approaches to data that go beyond simple cu

It happened to be unisex, too, reflecting his lack of concern even about an idea as fundamental to the culture as gender, and was uncommon enough among my generation to appeal to his off-kilter sensibilities. But it was also his first contribution as a parent, unpretentious and sweet. And although his own flightiness hadn’t exactly won my mother’s

The sightings were made all the more surreal for how prosaic they were: titans of their fields rounding a staircase, reaching for a napkin while juggling hors d’oeuvres, or nodding along with small talk. Giants inhabiting a slice of life as mundane as any of my own.

If I ever needed a reminder that the default position of any scientist should be one of absolute humility—an understanding that no one’s intellect is half as powerful as serendipity—this was it.