A Great Use for AI

Posted on September 17, 2021 by way0utwest

In the last couple of years there has been a tremendous amount of hype for machine learning and artificial intelligence as a way to improve the world. Plenty of companies have tried to implement ML/AI to generate more revenue or improve their products, often with mixed success. However, I recently saw a place where I think AI might shine.

I’ve never owned a Roomba or any robot vacuum, and I’ve never encountered a poopocalypse scenario. I do have a cat that is an avid hunter, so I certainly could envision something similar with a carcass in the house, but apparently, some owners of these vacuums have had a very messy experience when they pet has an accident and the robot vacuum attempts to clean the floor.

The company has implemented a camera and AI to try and avoid this happening, as well as avoiding other obstacles. How this will actually work remains to be seen, but it’s a good place to use AI to try and detect objects that might cause issues, notify the owner, and avoid creating a mess when trying to clean one up.

This is also a place of low impact if the AI doesn’t work perfectly. If the model can’t determine what an object is, avoid it and flag the situation. Allowing owners to provide feedback and improving the model over time is what I’d want to see, with regular improvements that might help the system tell when an object is something that could cause issues. If Roomba does a good job, they’ll use this as an opportunity to gather data and improve their products.

AI/ML isn’t often a build it and forget it technology for systems. These technologies use models, which are inherently incomplete and don’t always match the real world well. They need a lot of training, with new data, across time to become something that works really well.

Are they worth the effort for most systems? I don’t know. I do know that good data science is needed, lots of data for training and testing, and a set of boundaries where the system works well and where it doesn’t. I suspect we’ll see more businesses having success with AI over time, but not in all situations. I suspect older extrapolation and human judgment work just as well for lots of problems.

Knowing when each might work more efficiently will be a challenge for years to come.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

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Daily Coping 17 Sep 2021

Posted on September 17, 2021 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to get outside today and give your mind a natural boost.

I live in Colorado because of the great weather. My wife and I decided to move here for the views, the sun, and the ability to be outdoors most of the year.

Getting outside is a coping mechanism that I’ve enjoyed for most of my life.

Today this is easy. I’m working remotely in Santa Fe, where my wife is competing in a dressage show. While I’m working most of the day in our camper, I will get up and cook breakfast outside. I’ll walk over to the arenas to help my wife get ready and film a bit, and I hope to get a short hike in as well this afternoon.

Even when I’m working, with windows open, and a nice breeze, it almost feels like I’m outside as I can watch the views on the West side just outside of Santa Fe.

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Daily Coping 16 Sep 2021

Posted on September 16, 2021 by way0utwest

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to be as kind to yourself as you would to a loved one.

A tricky one today. After all, our loved ones are sometimes the ones that hurt us most, or upset us the most. I think we can sometimes get angrier at family than outsiders.

In any case, we often show our love, affection, and caring for our family in many ways, especially little ones. We put ourselves out for them, and we work to ensure they are happy, content, and joyous in life.

I need to remember that while I find ways to forgive and accept family, I struggle to do that to myself. I can be hard on myself, chastising myself in my mind for mistakes.

I’m telling myself today to accept myself as a flawed person. One who makes mistakes, mistakes I can learn from, but I can’t dwell on.

I give this advice to others and need to follow it myself.

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Help Your Manager

Posted on September 15, 2021 by way0utwest

Most of us have some sort of review with a manager on a regular basis. It might be once a year, once a quarter, or even monthly. Some of us like these, and some don’t (me), but the review is often a way to assist your manager in evaluating how you are performing in your job. This is quite common, and I’ve gotten used to this, though I never really like the process.

I do know reviews are important. This is a time when you have an opportunity to shape your career. A good impression here can help you with a raise, a promotion, even the choice of a project or work you want to do in the future. I learned early on in my career that these reviews were important.

I also learned that my manager often wasn’t up to date on what I’d done across the last time period. I used to have annual reviews, but even with quarterly reviews, managers have their own career (and review) to worry about, other employees to worry about, and they can lose track of your accomplishments.

I saw a link in the Brent Ozar newsletter listing things that your manager might not know. Not everything on the list would be things that I cover in a review, but these are things to think about as you look to tailor your job to suit you. If you want something fixed or are having issues, make sure you explicitly call these out to your manager. Not imply something is bothering you, but directly state what you want or what is wrong.

Read the list, but for me, the important things are to track the extra things I’ve done, the things that impact the company, or that help other people. If I save the company money, or better, increase revenue in some way, I want to make a note and bring those notes to my review. If I spend extra time to make someone else’s job easier, bring that up.

Your manager often doesn’t know the details of what you do across time. Usually, they do track the current tasks, but they often don’t remember at review time what you did 3 or 6 months ago. Often I don’t either.

That’s why I keep notes about my successes. They help me drive my career forward in the direction I want it to move. It can help you as well but start keeping track of things today, as a way to prep for review time.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

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