阿米爾·侯賽因旗下的公司SparkCognition總部位于美國得州奧斯汀,正努力開創(chuàng)人工智能的未來,涵蓋從戰(zhàn)場到發(fā)電廠各種領域。侯賽因來自巴基斯坦,4歲就愛上了計算機,現(xiàn)在他是IBM人工智能項目沃森的顧問委員會創(chuàng)始成員,也是一位高產的發(fā)明家,獲得了27項美國專利,還有許多專利正在申請中。
我在巴基斯坦拉合爾長大,父親是商人和投資人,母親是教師。我4歲時第一次接觸電腦:一臺Commodore 64。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己能控制屏幕上顯示的內容,簡直大開眼界。然后我回到房間,拆開一些玩具加上紙板,做了個我稱之為電腦的裝置。當時媽媽就知道我上癮了。
我讀到八年級就感覺學不到什么,于是去說服校長和父親我已經(jīng)準備好繼續(xù)深造。然后我離開學校開始寫軟件,在本地賣了幾百美元。
我15歲上大學,17歲從拉合爾旁遮普計算機科學研究所獲得了第一個計算機科學學士學位。我一直在研究世界各地的實驗室,發(fā)現(xiàn)美國得州奧斯汀有個叫分布式多媒體計算實驗室(DMCL)的實驗室正在研究下一代網(wǎng)絡技術。我想去那里工作。
1996年,我?guī)е鴥蓚€行李箱飛往奧斯汀。沒有人認識我。對我來說,目標就是要去實驗室工作,但所有人都嫌我太年輕。我在奧斯汀的得克薩斯大學獲得了第二個計算機科學學士學位,同時爭取到在DMCL工作的機會。
第一個星期我就遭了劫。當時我在公寓洗衣服,錢包里是打算買教材的200美元,一個家伙搶過錢跑了。我跑進商店把一張20美元的鈔票換成硬幣,然后用公用電話給媽媽打電話。還沒開口我就突然想到,“告訴她又怎樣,她能做什么?我深吸一口氣,笑了笑,調整了心情。”本來打算哭訴一番,但我告訴媽媽一切都很好。
1999年年底,我在攻讀博士學位時退學創(chuàng)辦了第一家初創(chuàng)公司Kurion。我從來不會滿足于提出想法然后寫下來,我喜歡把想法變成實踐,做出產品并應用,所以我成了企業(yè)家。我花了一點信用卡額度購買電腦部件,造出兩臺服務器安裝高速DSL,就在公寓里經(jīng)營公司。2001年,Kurion被當時最大的數(shù)字內容聯(lián)合公司Isyndicate收購。
“9·11”事件之后,我過得非常艱難。原來的友好世界一去不復返。身為移民意味著要面對很多不信任。立法上有些變化,旅行要求變嚴格了,進出美國的通關程序也更繁瑣。當時我遭到很多歧視,都是些非常痛苦的回憶,但我相信要堅持努力。現(xiàn)在我跟許多國防部的人合作,不會沉浸在過去。
2002年,我娶了大學時的女朋友扎伊布。那一年,我創(chuàng)立的第二家公司InfraManage并入了ClearCube Technology,InfraManage的業(yè)務是為大型安全計算進行系統(tǒng)管理。
SparkCognition是我的第三家公司。從商業(yè)角度來看,剛開始人們對人工智能有很多懷疑。但在2012年左右,我感覺到隨著算法和計算機改進,情況發(fā)生了變化。邁克爾·戴爾通過個人旗下的MSD Capital fund成為我的第一位投資者。現(xiàn)在,波音、CME Ventures、Verizon Ventures和其他許多公司都加入投資。我們融到了7250萬美元,客戶包括全球最大的一些公司。
SparkCognition主要將綜合智能應用于最關鍵的大規(guī)模應用。距離來說,我們與波音公司合作,構建未來的航空航天操作系統(tǒng),可以實現(xiàn)飛行汽車等構想。同時也跟三菱日立電力系統(tǒng)合作建造世界上第一座全自動發(fā)電廠。
公司跟美國軍方也有合作,研究在戰(zhàn)場上如何用人工智能挽救生命。將人工智能應用于軍事系統(tǒng)時,必須深入思考道德和合法性,同時也要展現(xiàn)卓越的能力。這項挑戰(zhàn)非常艱巨。我們正與最強大的勢力合作,充分實現(xiàn)人工智能的潛力。
創(chuàng)業(yè)是人們自愿從事最困難的事情之一。創(chuàng)業(yè)會考驗婚姻和親子關系,也考驗身體、情緒和承壓水平。我很少能踏實地睡整晚,但我做每件事都不瞞著家人。我向家人介紹腦海里的想法、分享做事的理由、為什么我如此認真地打造未來,以及其中涉及的責任。我不清楚什么叫工作和生活的平衡,因為對我來說二者是一回事。工作與生活沒有界限,只有現(xiàn)實存在,還有一步一個腳印向前走。(財富中文網(wǎng))
本文另一版本發(fā)表于2019年3月出版的《財富》雜志,標題為《有心的人工智能》。 譯者:馮豐 審校:夏林 |
Amir Husain’s Austin-based SparkCognition is working on the future of A.I., covering everything from the battlefield to power plants. A boy from Pakistan who fell in love with computers at age 4, Husain is now a founding member of the board of advisers for IBM Watson and a prolific inventor, with 27 U.S. patents awarded and many more pending.
I grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, where my father was a businessman and an investor, and my mother was an educator. When I was 4 years old, I had my first -experience with a computer: a Commodore 64. It blew my mind that you could control what showed up on the screen. Afterward, I went to my room, grabbed some toys, disassembled them, added cardboard, and made a contraption that I called a computer. My mom knew then that I was hooked.
By the time I was in eighth grade, I was bored at school. I convinced the principal and my father that I was ready to move on. So I left school and wrote software, making a few hundred dollars selling it locally.
I started college at age 15 and got my first bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Punjab Institute of Computer Science in Lahore at 17. I’d been looking at laboratories all over the world, and there was one in Austin called Distributed Multimedia Computing Laboratory [DMCL] that was working on next–generation technologies for the web. That’s where I wanted to work.
So in 1996, I flew to Austin with two suitcases. No one knew who I was. For me, it was about getting to that lab, but everyone said I was too young. So I got a second bachelor’s in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin and talked my way into a job at DMCL at the same time.
Within the first week, I got mugged. I was doing laundry at my apartment and had $200 in my wallet, intending to purchase textbooks, when a guy ran off with the money. I ran into a store, changed a $20 bill into quarters, and called my mom from a pay phone. Before I could tell her anything, the thought came, “What can she do? Suck it up, smile, and get through it.” I was about to cry but told her everything was fine.
In late 1999, I was working toward my Ph.D. when I dropped out to launch my first startup, Kurion. I’ve never been satisfied just coming up with an idea and writing about it. I want to take the idea, produce it, and apply it, so I became an entrepreneur. I spent my meager credit card limits on purchasing computer parts to build two servers and install high-speed DSL. I ran the company out of my apartment. Kurion was purchased in 2001 by iSyndicate, the largest digital content syndication company back then.
It became a very trying time after 9/11. The world flipped on its head. Just being an immigrant meant facing a lot of mistrust. There were many legislative changes and travel requirements that created a process of clearances to come to and go out of the United States. I faced a lot of discrimination then. They’re very painful memories, but I believe in moving on. I work alongside many people at the Department of Defense now and don’t dwell on it.
In 2002, I married my college sweetheart, Zaib. My second company, Inframanage, a systems management company for large-scale secure computing, merged into ClearCube Technology that year.
SparkCognition became my third company. From a business standpoint, there was a lot of skepticism about artificial intelligence at first. But around 2012, I felt that things were changing with improvements in algorithms and computers. Michael Dell became my first investor through his personal MSD Capital fund. Now -Boeing, CME Ventures, Verizon Ventures, and numerous others have become investors. We have raised $72.5 million and serve some of the largest companies in the world.
SparkCognition is applying synthetic intelligence to the most critical, large-scale applications. For example, we are working with Boeing to build the aerospace operating system of the future that will enable flying cars and beyond. We’re working with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems to build the world’s first autonomous power plant.
We’re working with the U.S. military on how A.I. can be used to save lives on the battlefield. In applying A.I. to military systems, one has to think deeply about ethics and legality while enabling superior capability; it’s a tough challenge. We’re working with the largest players to make the potential of A.I. real.
A startup is one of the most difficult things you can voluntarily do. It tests your marriage, your relationship with your children, physical stamina, emotional intelligence, and stress levels. I rarely get a full night’s sleep, but I include my family in everything I do. I open -every idea in my mind to them, sharing why I’m doing this, why I have a serious commitment to building the future, and the responsibilities involved in that. I don’t know what work/life balance is because for me, it’s all one thing. There’s no work or life—there is only existence and putting one foot in front of the other.
A version of this article appears in the March 2019 issue of Fortune with the headline “A.I. With Heart.” |
最佳建議: 想清楚最重要的是什么,那些事會分散注意力。 我經(jīng)歷過別人竊取知識產權,也有同事帶著大客戶離職,但我沒有追究,因為我浪費不起時間。分心是嚴重的拖累,因為科技發(fā)展太快了。如果死在一座山上,可能就沒有機會爬另一座山。 克服恐懼。 恐懼會抑制創(chuàng)造力。如果以前我能掌握現(xiàn)在的知識,早就下大賭注了。我一直在努力克服。 |
Best Advice: Define what is important and what is a distraction. I’ve experienced people stealing intellectual property and people walking away with key customers, but I didn’t go after them because I couldn’t afford it. Distractions will sink you because technology moves so fast. If you die on one hill, there may not be another hill to climb. Overcome your fears. Fear puts a damper on creativity. If I knew back then what I know now, I would’ve made bigger bets sooner. I constantly strive to work on that. |