As a web developer learner at Umuzi, I am part of an online community of aspiring developers where we collaborate, share knowledge and ideas virtually. In-person interactions are rare; working remotely on our desktops and laptops is common. The BBD Escape Conference was an opportunity to network with a diverse community of professionals in various fields within the tech space, break free from the confines of my remote workspace, share knowledge, and learn from both young and seasoned professionals.
It was an environment filled with like-minded individuals who shared a passion for technology and innovation. Building solutions that add value to society by creating convenience and enhancing the human experience. We started with an opening keynote where the speaker did an exceptional job of setting out what to expect from the conference. What stood out for me was that we are ultimately problem solvers. We create solutions for people, and adopting a human-centric approach to our problem solving is crucial in our pursuit to develop value-adding products.
The keynote was followed by a session led by a seasoned developer who had been administered incorrect medication. After days of taking the medication and not getting better, he went for a second opinion, where he discovered that he was administered the wrong medication.
This experience inspired him to develop an AI-assisted application that recommends a correct prescription based on symptoms, diagnosis and other parameters. This ignited something in me; it was a paradigm shift and realisation. As developers, we look at the world’s problems and think, “How do I solve this?” as opposed to complaining about the problem and why it’s such an inconvenience.
The next session highlighted the importance of building solutions fast in a rapidly changing field and how knowledge sharing in teams can help increase the productivity of development teams. This served as a reminder that I am not in a stagnant field; the pursuit of knowledge, learning new tech trends, building and failing fast while maintaining quality and high standards is crucial for longevity in this field.
The highlight of the day was led by two software engineers who walked us through their journey of building a smart mirror. A creative, innovative and AI-driven mirror that can recommend make-up tutorials, listen to voice commands, recommend songs and other exciting features. The union of hardware and software to build a tangible product, and the exceptional problem-solving skills, had me on the edge of my seat.
The conference closed off with a panel discussion, and AI was, of course, the hot topic, as usual. The interesting point they touched on is that we are running out of information to train and improve AI models. How do we generate more information to train AI models for their advancement? Is AI development going to reach a ceiling?
Thanks to Umuzi and BBD for the experience, it broadened my horizons, reinvigorated my passion and sparked my curiosity.
