Thesis Statement, that is my life: “The symphony of hard-hitting circumstances, my zeal for attainment and everything that life has to offer, to pursue my passion by leveraging Master’s degree in CS.”
My name is Rushabh. I know! Hard to pronounce, so I prefer to call myself Ryan, here in the states. There are other adjectives that define me, I’m a socialist, activist, Instagram-er, Snap-chatter, social justice advocate, full-time university student and then some.
Let’s start from the time when I was fused with the passion, mania, or whatever. I fell in love with computers when I was in my 6th grade class and in our computer lab session I was shown how to use custom animations in power-point, that made by ridiculously average mind blown to pieces. I had to know how to do this kind of magic, and then this fire enraged when we got the Internet. Internet satisfied my every craving, literally. Maybe one of the things that made me, maybe. I started learning HTML and building websites, really ugly ones at first.
Ahh! Then came my Undergraduate studies. The ridiculous average guy, who was unappreciated and always ridiculed by teachers was finally free to start again at a new place, a new start. And I flourished. I was finally learning what I wanted to, maybe not all things, but Yes, I was happy. I learnt many things whether it was loops in Java or the gaping loop hole that the life is. I made lots of friends, in the double digits. But I was left with 4 friends and a realization that in the concentric circles of my life only some are left within the inner most circle.
I wasn’t good at my academics till High school, because everyone in the school made me feel like I was worth-less. Like I was the loser weirdo. Yes! I was average in my academics, just because I hated maths and languages, except English. But in my undergraduate studies I learnt things I was interested in. I wanted to know concepts not just mug everything. I also got pretty good grades. That’s my strength, I am curious to understand concept in depth.
I also met the love of my life in the 3rd year of my studies, Artificial Intelligence. I devised a program based off of Jarvis from the movie Iron-Man. I mean it wasn’t perfect, and still working on it. But my project-guide loved it, and we showcased it in a National event and earned a 2nd prize. Now I was sure what to pursue. I worked another year on this project and was appreciated by all the faculty on my achievement, and scored full marks for our project.
With AI making striking developments in robotics, it is futuristic. I apprehend that re-evaluation of the field that began with people like Rodney Brooks, will not cease. This re-evaluation has given a perspective that a well-engineered and integrated physical body is as much part of ‘intelligence’ as symbolic computation. This ‘physical intelligence’ will include bodies that are not merely well-engineered and smooth actuators but are composed of multiple layers of sensors and localized tight-feedback loops. The most exciting and cutting-edge AI research will be in designing such complex ‘subsumption architectures’ consisting of multiple layers of sensors and actuators that add up to sophisticated bodily behavior and interaction with the human world. I want to bring the symphony of AI, VR and MR to the world where the gaming experiences will not be limited. Where you can experience everything. The feel of air on your face when you are running, the heat of fire burning nearby, in the virtual world. This beautiful mixture of reality and AI within the virtual world will also help in building safe simulation environment and also a space to design the unthinkable, the one without limits.
The conclusion? I’m a geek and I like it. I am way too obsessed with food and people. I’m an ambivert, I am driven by my moods sometimes. I’m OCD, but not that critical. Even though my life sounds a lot like cliched movies, I accept that this is what has happened, and now I have the magical gauntlet to define what happens in the future. I expect to find my real priority in this beautiful mess that is my life and I hope that something will help me define my personality the way it is supposed to be. Again, with the clichés! Right? Haha..I love clichés, at-least it has a little factor called reliability in that.
All About Nothing 