Machine learning technology refers to a type of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science that utilises data and algorithms to imitate the way that the human brain learns.
Overtime, machine learning systems are able to improve their accuracy and ability, based on how much they learn. Plenty of organisations have been developing and utilising machine learning to improve business outcomes and innovate further, such as reducing downtime and detecting fraud.
With this in mind, AI Magazine showcases some of the top machine learning leaders that continue to innovate in the field of AI, whilst advocating for responsible use cases.
10. Demis Hassabis
Demis Hassabis is the CEO and Co-founder of AI company, Google DeepMind, which merged with Google Brain in April 2023. Working towards advancing science and AI technology, the company’s ethos is that AI could be the most useful invention to humanity.
Hassabis is one of the most influential experts in the field of AI. In 2023, he said: “Our goal at [Google] DeepMind has always been to build AI and then use it as a tool to help accelerate the pace of scientific discovery itself, thereby advancing our understanding of the world around us.”
9. Ben Goertzel
As the CEO of SingularityNET, Ben Goertzel advocates for the decentralisation of AI via blockchain technology. Through his work in AI and computer science, he helped to popularise the term ‘artificial general intelligence’ and believes that, once developed, it can work to solve societal problems like climate change.
Goertzel is also Chairman of the OpenCog Foundation and the Artificial General Intelligence Society. Prior to this, he was also Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics, the company that created the Sophia robot.
8. Rana el Kaliouby
Rana el Kaliouby is an AI scientist, entrepreneur and thought leader who aims to bring emotional intelligence to the digital world. She was the Co-founder and CEO at AI company Affectiva before it was acquired by Smart Eye, where she is now Deputy CEO.
Currently, she is focused on scaling the company so that it becomes a global AI powerhouse, which includes driving AI innovation with a focus on ethics. el Kaliouby is also an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where she teaches about AI and start-ups.
7. Yann LeCun
One of the ‘Godfathers’ of AI, Yann LeCun is a professor, researcher, and R&D manager with academic and industry experience in areas such as AI, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision and robotics. Since 2021, he has worked as VP and Chief AI Scientist at Meta.
LeCun’s work is focused on bringing about major advances in AI technology and he has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2018 Turing Award. He has also been a professor at New York University for more than 20 years, where taught on engineering, data science and neural science.
6. Geoffrey Hinton
Also one of the ‘Godfathers’ of AI, Geoffrey Hinton holds a legacy as a computer scientist and cognitive psychologist most noted for his work on artificial neural networks. From 2013 to 2023, he divided his time working for Google (Google Brain) and the University of Toronto, before becoming Chief Scientific Advisor of the Vector Institute for AI.
Last year (2023), Hinton resigned from Google after expressing concerns over the dangers of AI, stating that soon it could become more intelligent than humans and could be easily manipulated.
5. Yoshua Bengio
The third ‘Godfather’ of AI, Yoshua Bengio, is celebrated for his work on artificial neural networks and deep learning. He is a professor at the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at the Université de Montréal and scientific director of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.
Recognised as one of the leading experts in the field of AI, Bengio was appointed to a United Nations scientific advisory council on technological advances in August 2023. He has also called for better regulations and ethical training AI products, citing a need for greater government involvement.
4. Ian Goodfellow
A well-established leader in machine learning technology, Ian Goodfellow currently works as a research scientist at Google DeepMind. Most noted for his work on artificial neural networks and deep learning, he was instrumental in the invention of generative adversarial networks (GAN) - a class of machine learning frameworks for approaching generative AI (Gen AI).
Prior to Google DeepMind, Goodfellow worked for Apple as Director of Machine Learning in the Special Projects Group, in addition to working as a Senior Research Scientist for Google.
3. Andrej Karpathy
Specialising in deep learning and computer vision, Andrej Karpathy was the Director of AI and Autopilot Vision at Tesla until 2022. He worked to establish neural network training and to deploy the company’s custom AI chip.
Most notably, he was a founding member of OpenAI, where he worked as a research scientist from 2016-2017 and then again from 2023 until February 2024, working on deep learning for generative models.
Karpathy was awarded a PhD from Stanford University in 2016, with his thesis focusing on the intersection of natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision. He was supervised by Fei-Fei Li (see below).
2. Fei-Fei Li
Fei-Fei Li is a computer scientist best known for establishing ImageNet, the dataset that enabled rapid advances in computer vision in the 2010s. Her significant contributions to the sector involve developing advanced algorithms that are capable of recognising and comprehending visual content.
Li's achievements have attracted global attention and she currently serves as the co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centred AI (HAI), which is dedicated to fostering the development of AI technologies that uphold ethical standards, transparency and societal benefits.
She also serves on several company boards as a director, including AI4ALL (where she is also Co-founder) and X, formerly known as Twitter. Prior to this, she was the Vice President and Chief Scientist of AI and machine learning at Google.
1. Andrew Ng
From early contributions to the development of deep learning algorithms, to founding online education platforms, Andrew Ng’s impact on AI is both far-reaching and transformative. His pioneering work in deep learning has propelled AI to new heights, enabling breakthroughs in image and speech recognition, natural language processing and autonomous vehicles.
Ng has made significant contributions to the advancement of deep learning and has worked on a number of high-profile projects, including the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Robot project and was a Co-founder of Google Brain. Additionally, he was the former Chief Scientist at Baidu.
Most notably, Ng founded DeepLearning.AI in 2017 - a platform designed to provide accessible technical training on Gen AI, machine learning and deep learning, alongside other topics.
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