Interested In · 05
On the interest I didn't recognize as an interest at first
This is probably the interest I didn’t recognize as an “interest” at first.
A lot of my activities involve people.
Through RYLA and the Flower Mound Leadership Program, I’ve worked on communication, problem solving, teamwork, accountability, goal setting, open-mindedness, character, and integrity.
Through Model UN and Schoolhouse Dialogues, I’ve had to think about problems from perspectives other than my own and actually listen to people who might disagree with me.
And volunteering showed me something completely different.
At Roar 4 Change, I helped set up temporary sleeping arrangements and distribute food, water, blankets, hygiene products, and other supplies to individuals and families staying in shelters.
Those experiences made me interested in something that is probably harder to understand than any AI model:
People.
Why do we disagree? Why can two people experience the same event and remember it completely differently? Why does someone follow one leader but not another? How do you help someone without assuming you already understand what they need? How do people with completely different opinions actually work together?
I don’t think I have answers to most of those questions yet.
But I think understanding them matters.
Especially if I eventually work in AI.
We can create incredibly intelligent machines, but those machines are going to exist in a world full of very complicated human beings.
Someone has to decide how AI is used. Someone has to decide what problems matter. Someone has to think about who benefits. And someone has to remember that behind a dataset might be an actual person.
The more I learn about technology, the more I realize that understanding people may be just as important as understanding machines.