Letters from Andrew Ng

Letters

Values for the AI Community

Earlier this week, I asked a question on social media: What is the most important problem that the AI community should work on? Thousands of you responded. The most frequently mentioned themes included...

Andrew Ng speaking at the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum about auditing AI systems

Letters

Making AI Fair, Accountable, and Reliable

I spoke last week at the National Intergovernmental Audit Forum, a meeting attended by U.S. federal, state, and local government auditors. (Apparently some of the organizers had taken AI for Everyone.)

Zoom call with the Ng family celebrating Andrew Ng's grandfather’s 102nd birthday

Letters

Global Communications and the New Normal

Over the weekend, my family celebrated my grandfather’s 102nd birthday on Zoom. We dialed in from Hong Kong (my grandfather), the U.S. (myself), the UK, Singapore, and New Zealand.

Letters

The Power of Sleep

I received a copy of Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams as a Christmas gift — back in the pre-Covid era — and finished it last weekend. This book by Matthew Walker, director of UC Berkeley’s sleep and neuroimaging lab, is a useful reminder of the importance of sleep...

People holding a "No student ban, no deportations" sign

Letters

A Victory for International Education

Last week, I wrote about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy that would have forced international students to leave the country if their university went fully online to manage the risk of Covid-19.

Andrew Ng's Certificate of Elegibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student

Letters

Let International Students Study

I am appalled by the policy, announced on Monday by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), that international students in the country on an F-1 visa must leave if their school goes fully online to cope with Covid-19.

The word "bias" with a forbidden sign over it

Letters

How “Unbiased” AI Can Lead to Biased Outcomes

We know that biased data leads to biased machine learning. But does the problem go beyond that? A few colleagues asked about this after a heated exchange on Twitter between Yann LeCun and Timnit Gebru (see “Image Resolution in Black and White” below).

Letters

Why We Need H1-B Visas

I was dismayed on Monday to read that the U.S. is suspending the H1-B visa program at least through the end of the year. This effort to discourage immigration can only bring distress to workers from other countries and harm to the U.S.

Letters

Introducing the Natural Language Processing Specialization

I’m thrilled to announce our new Natural Language Processing Specialization! Courses 1 and 2 are available on Coursera. We expect to release Courses 3 and 4 soon. NLP is reshaping daily life.

Letters

Toward Diversity in AI

Last week, I wrote about the diversity problem in AI and why we need to fix it. I asked you to tell us about your experiences as a Black person in AI or share the names of Black colleagues you admire. Thank you to everyone who responded.

Posters of George Floyd stuck on a glass door

Letters

Why Diversity is Vital to AI

Like many of you, I’m deeply saddened by the events of the past week. I’m horrified by the senseless violence perpetrated against Black communities and appalled by the persistent racial injustice of our society.

Letters

Pie & AI Turns 100!

I’m proud to announce that we held the 100th Pie & AI last Friday. Pie & AI is our meetup series that brings together members of the AI community worldwide for education, conversation, and a slice of pie.