Hey HackerNoon Readers! I’m Nicolas and I’m the founder of Fortuitapps.
I want to thank the HackerNoon community and staff for their nomination in the Emerging Tech category, as well as .tech domains for sponsoring the Emerging Tech category of the 2022 Noonies awards.
I’ve been nominated for the following awards and if you like my writing, please do check out this award page and vote for me:
Learn more about my thoughts and opinions on the emerging technology of 2022 and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.
1. Please tell us your story. What do you currently do in tech and how did you get started doing it?
Currently in tech what I consistently try to do is to apply imagination to solving real world problems with the help of AI, mainly using Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Knowledge Representation techniques.
Today’s most advanced software technology is at the very early stages of truly modelling our 3D reality, which (possibly) is an infinitely powerful super-duper computer (matrix) in which we are all “immersed”. So, today’s AI and 3D VR/AR technology are heading towards emulating some of this functionality.
At Fortuitapps we envisage AI Powered 3D VR/AR software experiences that transcend all types of “devices”, from cars to basketballs to swimming pools.
Books are an interesting case as they should be turned into personalized 3D immersive experiences that adjust to who is the reader while addressing all human senses simultaneously (vision, sound, touch, smell and so on). Books will be smart enough to learn from these interactions and will learn to autonomously communicate with each other. Who knows where all that will lead to.,.
I got started in all this since realizing in high school that programming was very easy for me. That, along with a natural curiousity eventually led to a Master’s Degree in AI, and from there to founding Fortuitapps.
2. Tell us more! What are the things you make / write / manage / build?
We make custom ML Models.
We make custom NLP systems that create and model knowledge.
We mine the internet not for website addresses but for knowledge extracted from chaotic unstructured data.
And we make critical real world applications that work and have worked in large banks for many years, where we sometimes combine crazy innovative ideas with tough business world realities (compliance, ethics, efficiency, reliability).
3. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?
Creativity, Imagination and innovation are at the core of any modern business and the essence of its long-term viability. In today’s volatile business world, a competitive advantage is not enough anymore. So how do you consistently infuse creativity into your business?
One way is to create an AI Powered Creativity Machine that, given a set of objects (products), it “imagines” never seen before objects (products) each with several different and several similar characteristics.
To implement this an AI technique known as “disentanglement” is used which attempts to partially mimic human intuition, imagination and innovation.
Thats where I would invest. Following is an article I am preparing on this subject.
4. What do you think is the most exciting development in tech right now? And on a personal level, what tech are you most excited or passionate about?
Overall the most exciting development in tech is Artificial Intelligence.
It is all just at the beginning and the more AI is integrated into daily functionality the more AI will be generated.
I am passionate about any technology that combines imagination and innovation to resolve real world problems and that makes people happier.
5. What are your concerns about how fast tech is evolving?
I have no concerns about how fast tech is evolving.
But Ethics is a different issue, and safeguards must always be considered in advance of developments.
AI transparency must be a given, and I am sure that almost all AI professionals want to protect the AI industry by strictly adhering to ethics and transparency concerns.
6. Which tech company do you trust the most? Which do you trust the least? Why?
That is a hard question.
Professional courtesy and ethics do not allow me to point out any company, large or small, in those terms.
In all cases, I believe that middle to long term the market itself resolves these kind of concerns.
7. What are you currently learning?
Besides AI, I am not learning enough.
But what I want to learn is to play the bass guitar.
It is a close emulation of a human heartbeat and the secret sauce of music.
8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?
The best advice I have given is to do what you are really good at, and not necessarily what you enjoy as is the consensus.
So if you are an exceptional programmer, but not a geek, becoming a programmer anyway.
If you are really really good at soccer but don’t like soccer too much, become a soccer player anyway and make money.
9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
What determines whether you are “rich” or “poor” (within reason) is not how much money you make per month, but the difference between how much you make and how much you spend per month.
If you make 3000 and spend 2000, you are richer than someone who makes 10000 and spends 12000.
Now you can navigate your financial future on more stable ground.
About HackerNoon’s 2022 Noonie Awards
The annual Noonies Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today.
The 2022 Noonies Awards for the Emerging Tech category are sponsored by .tech domains.
A BIG thank you to the sponsor who is helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees!