The 10,000x Yolo Researcher Metagame — with Yi Tay of Reka

TL;DR

A researcher discusses their transition from Google Brain to becoming a co-founder of Rea, highlighting their career trajectory and insights gained along the way.

Transcript

welcome e to l space uh it was this is a long time coming but I'm so excited to have you here yeah thanks for thanks for inviting and excited to be here chat about a lot of stuff yeah um so you're interesting to research and introduce um you are now Chief scientists of Rea um which is uh which is super interesting model thatb but before that you we... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨‍🔬 The researcher's career trajectory was influenced by their willingness to adapt to changing research trends.
• 🖐️ Collaboration and learning from experienced researchers played a significant role in their growth and success.
• 😨 Balancing passion and dedication with self-care is crucial to prevent burnout in the fast-paced AI research industry.
• 💪 A strong online presence, effective marketing, and research impact are valuable skills for an AI researcher.
• 🏃 The choice of compute provider can significantly impact training runs, emphasizing the need for stability and reliability in the industry.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did the researcher transition from academia to working at Google Brain?

The researcher joined Google Brain in 2019 and focused on language research and model architecture. They chose to work on projects that were most impactful and promising, gradually leading them to the field of AI research.

Q: What was the researcher's role in Palm 2 and emerging abilities?

In Palm 2, the researcher was one of the co-leads in the modeling workstream. For emerging abilities, they contributed to the project but credit the first author, Hugan, as the main driving force behind the paper.

Q: How did the researcher navigate the changing landscape of AI research?

The researcher emphasized the importance of staying adaptable and evolving with the field. They paid attention to shifts in research focus and collaborated with others to improve their intuition and stay up to date with the latest developments.

Q: Why did the researcher decide to co-found Rea?

The researcher was initially hesitant about starting a startup but was eventually convinced by their co-founder. They wanted to experience something new and saw the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the AI research field.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The researcher began their career at Google Brain, working on language models and model architecture.

• They later joined Rea as the Chief Scientist, focusing on universal intelligence and developing efficient AI models.

• Their journey involved working on various projects, such as Palm 2, U2, and emerging abilities, all aimed at advancing AI research.