Posts Tagged “new years”

It’s hard to remember what machine learning conferences were like in person, but I think that I liked them a lot better when the field was smaller. It was easier to meet new people, to talk about new ideas in small groups of talented people who were really excited by them. The culture of the field has changed from back then, in intellectual ways that you know already, but the social ways are worth reflecting on, too.

Romanticizing the past is a sorry hobby for old men. I will not do that. All research communities have a callous system at their core — I’ve written about the toxic forces that drive and derail research careers — that’s always been the case.

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