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I would say follow the money, create a product or service that generates recurrent income and channel that income to study the fundamental problems that would i

I would say follow the money, create a product or service that generates recurrent income and channel that income to study the fundamental problems that would interest you. Owning a product or platform opens up for a lot of opportunities.

Ar-Curunir 2y ago
Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy"; otherwise we'd be stuck with faster calculators instead of, well, all of modern computer science.
- Maxatar 2y ago
  Most research I know about in academia is absolutely about what makes money.
  - Ar-Curunir 2y ago
    Care to give some examples? It is largely untrue in CS academia, and definitely untrue in every other non-engineering field.
- KuriousCat 2y ago
  I did not say anything about making money in the current economy. Research requires funding and only way to have academic freedom is to have a steady source of recurrent income or funding. One way to get that is to please those who have money but give up part of your control on what you study. Other way is to monetize your knowledge and acquire a ton of money. You seem to misunderstand what I said or have very little clue on how the academia works.
- godelski 2y ago
  > Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy" Unfortunately I don't believe this is true for AI research... I think you'll find a strong correlation with each year's most cited papers and what's currently popular in industry. There's always exceptions, but we moved to a world where we're highly benchmark oriented, and that means we're highly reliant on having large compute infrastructures, and that means that the access and/or funding comes from industry. Who is obviously going to pressure research directions towards certain things.
- levocardia 2y ago
  >Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy" That's right, it's guided by "what gets grant money in the current paradigm"
smokel 2y ago
This would require a potentially successful researcher to also be a successful entrepreneur. Seems like it does not solve the problem for most people. Also, even with a steady income, not having access to academia can get in the way of successfully advancing research. Still, I do agree that it's a great option to buy yourself some freedom, if you are capable of doing so.
- KuriousCat 2y ago
  I don’t think you would loose access to academia, actually it is the opposite. Academia would invite you with open arms once you have funds and/or the data :)
  - aleph_minus_one 2y ago
    > Academia would invite you with open arms once you have funds and/or the data :) This way of getting access to academia is based on the premise that you already did quite some research - which is much harder if you don't have access to academia. :-(
    - KuriousCat 2y ago
      If we are referring to PhD positions, that’s the case anyway. Many masters/PhD applicants have multiple papers these days.

Ar-Curunir 2y ago

Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy"; otherwise we'd be stuck with faster calculators instead of, well, all of modern computer science.

Maxatar 2y ago
Most research I know about in academia is absolutely about what makes money.
- Ar-Curunir 2y ago
  Care to give some examples? It is largely untrue in CS academia, and definitely untrue in every other non-engineering field.
KuriousCat 2y ago
I did not say anything about making money in the current economy. Research requires funding and only way to have academic freedom is to have a steady source of recurrent income or funding. One way to get that is to please those who have money but give up part of your control on what you study. Other way is to monetize your knowledge and acquire a ton of money. You seem to misunderstand what I said or have very little clue on how the academia works.
godelski 2y ago
> Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy" Unfortunately I don't believe this is true for AI research... I think you'll find a strong correlation with each year's most cited papers and what's currently popular in industry. There's always exceptions, but we moved to a world where we're highly benchmark oriented, and that means we're highly reliant on having large compute infrastructures, and that means that the access and/or funding comes from industry. Who is obviously going to pressure research directions towards certain things.
levocardia 2y ago
>Thankfully research is not guided by notions like "what makes money in the current economy" That's right, it's guided by "what gets grant money in the current paradigm"

smokel 2y ago

This would require a potentially successful researcher to also be a successful entrepreneur. Seems like it does not solve the problem for most people. Also, even with a steady income, not having access to academia can get in the way of successfully advancing research. Still, I do agree that it's a great option to buy yourself some freedom, if you are capable of doing so.

KuriousCat 2y ago
I don’t think you would loose access to academia, actually it is the opposite. Academia would invite you with open arms once you have funds and/or the data :)
- aleph_minus_one 2y ago
  > Academia would invite you with open arms once you have funds and/or the data :) This way of getting access to academia is based on the premise that you already did quite some research - which is much harder if you don't have access to academia. :-(
  - KuriousCat 2y ago
    If we are referring to PhD positions, that’s the case anyway. Many masters/PhD applicants have multiple papers these days.