Lawyer Turned Full-Stack Ruairidh Wynne-McHardy Talks AI in 2020

When he's not working for a Google-backed startup in the AI space, Ruairidh Wynne-McHardy from the UK writes coding tutorials and courses - the former of which earned a nomination for a 2020 Noonie. After the ad break: we present to you, our big techy world, from the perspective of Ruairidh.

1. Which 2020 Noonie have you been nominated for?

Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - Graphql

2. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a former lawyer turned full-stack engineer.

I work mostly with JavaScript and am currently writing a course on GraphQL!

3. Tell us about the things you make / write / manage / build.

I work for a Google-backed startup in the AI space, helping automate aspects of property management.

In my spare time, I love writing tutorials, and making small side-projects.

4. What are you most excited about right now?

I'm most excited about how the barriers to entry in tech are becoming lower and lower.

When I first started to code, I had to do so from an old book I found in my house.

Now, you can go onto Hacker Noon, YouTube, or so many other places and get high quality content for free.

There's never been a better time to enter a field which provides you the opportunity to make a real impact.

5. What are you worried about right now?

I worry about the double-edged nature of technology and how what we work on can be misused.

Particularly in areas such as AI.

6. What's the most useful advice you've ever given somebody?

I don't think you ever know what the true impact of advice can be, so I have no idea what my most useful advice has been! That said, I try to encourage people to always try something, even when they're not sure.

7. How has the pandemic changed your life and/or career?

I worked from home anyway so was fortunate in that I had a good setup for that. I've had the opportunity to slow down a bit and try to appreciate some of the things I have at home, and enjoy time with my partner.

8. If we gave you $10 million to invest in one thing right now, where would you put it?

Tech education for young people in disadvantaged areas.

The opportunities for individuals could be enormous, and the societal benefit from subsequent companies and inventions would be worth every penny of investment.

9. What's an opinion you have that most people don't agree with?

Nobody will convince me that I'm a bad dancer.

10. What or Who are you keeping an eye on in 2020?

Josh Comeau writes amazing code!

11. What are you currently learning?

I'm about to start playing around with Rust, it looks like a lot of fun to work with.

VOTE for Ruairidh Wynne-McHardy as Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - Graphql before voting closes on 12 October, 2020! 🚀

With gratitude to Hacker Noon's 2020 Noonies Partners: Sustany Capital, .TECH Domains, Grant for the Web, Skillsoft, Flipside Crypto, Udacity, and Beyondskills!