Tips on this: content creators tend to be more open to and better at explaining things, and you get to see their ability to explain before you pay them. If you can, overpay them - students need the money more than you do :-)
This works for him and tbh it works for me too. I guess my advice is that the important part is not sourcing the expert it's putting in the work to come with enough context to get something out of talking to an expert and to leave them without the feeling like you've wasted their time. Follow people on the socials, read their code, show up at NeurIPS with actual good questions to ask people in person on the hallway track.
Without the _hard work up front to get good questions to ask_ you're in danger of finding a good expert and them deciding you're just another starry eyed kid that doesn't know for just how many years longer you wouldn't even pass the screening call for an interview.
Just my two cents, hope this helps!
AI is very broad, what exactly are you wishing to learn/build/accomplish and where are you in the process?
I specialize in ML that intersects with time-series, sensor/IoT data and audio. Info in profile if anyone is interested.
The more specific you can be with what you want to learn, the better off you'll be though. "AI expert" is still pretty broad.
"Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask"
Solve that problem and move onto the next. Via a string of problem fixes you gain more domain knowledge and you'll retain more as you struggled through it and deeply understood it.
Irony aside, finding an expert for anything is difficult. Not because they don't exist, but because there's a lot of charlatans aiming to profit from the non-expert not really being able to tell. Do not underestimate their ability to BS even smart people, at least for a while.
My approach is usually to just ask around until I get a recommendation, a web of trust model if you will. I could for example recommend what I'd consider an AI expert to you. But you don't trust me because you don't know me, so by extension you have little reason to trust them. And that's what I'd advise: Find someone you trust, directly or by proxy.
If that's not a viable path, I would personally look around and try to figure out where relevant people hang out, write to one of them out of the blue. It appears people are more helpful to strangers than I previously assumed, though many do ghost. Many people have reached out to me this way, and I've sometimes ghosted them for embarrassing reasons like forgetting to answer, I've never once been annoyed by someone asking for my help.
I always offer payment, no matter how I found someome, based on the rate they name. I find that respectful, and some respectfully take it, others can't be bothered to write an invoice, and prefer to just do it pro bono. Though since you said it's intense, I would probably insist on paying them :)
The old Python usenet group had an informal custom that the more knowledgable users weren't expected to spend much time on newbie questions. If you were a newbie, you'd mostly ask easy questions (say about the break statement) that intermediate level users could answer, so they would. After a while, you'd become intermediate level yourself, and then you'd get to answer newbie questions, while more advanced users would answer your now intermediate-level questions, and so on. Finally, the big time gurus were lurking about and they would mostly answer questions that really needed attention from experts.
I felt like I'd "arrived" when one day, Guido van Rossum himself answered one of my questions. It wasn't that great or advanced a question, but still.
So yeah, if you're a beginner, maybe you can just post your questions or watch some videos, or take a class.
As for beginner AI stuff, I liked the fast.ai videos when I started watching them a few years ago, though I didn't get through that many. They have since been redone, so if I wanted to get into the subject, I'd start with them again at the beginning. I don't think I'd try to engage experts until I'd gotten through all the videos and tried other ways to deal with any stumbling blocks.
I will say the quality of the tutors varies wildly so you may have to do some digging depending on the specific domain.
I was able to find someone who currently works at the company the certification is through and it has been very helpful.
I will note that the whiteboard on the site is pretty bad so we just use something else.
It would help to know what your objectives are with learning more about AI. Otherwise we can only guess at your motivations.
Outside of that Upwork is generally where I go for any learning task where I need an expert for a short period. Good rates, 1:1 contracts and upwork overhead isn’t so high that it’s usury.
If it’s something super niche I can’t find there, then I’ll typically search for who is writing about the topic I’m interested in already, and then reach out if they have a public contact.
The last time I did that a few years ago I cold called a trash company in KS asking if there was anyone who would be willing to talk with me about getting into the business. The woman I called was the daughter of the owner and he invited me down to spend a few days in Russellville Arkansas learning how the trash business works.
That was a fascinating three day trip!
Andy mentions the increased availability of postdocs as tutors (video is timestamped):
I'm on the other side now, and actually struggle to get visibility. I focus on Knowledge Management, not software development so much these days. I hoped to be in a new category on platforms like MentorCruise, but they considered it too nice. So I rely on my blog, my newsletter, and Gumroad: https://developassion.gumroad.com/l/pkm-coaching?layout=prof...
In general, the wisdom of the tribe can't be given or taken... it is simply what you personally learn from the situation, and apply to internal problem solving processes. However, there are decent courses on specialty areas that often have a competent Prof/TA willing to chat with you about a specific subject.
Note, most "experts" are usually just perpetually improving students that see the bigger picture.
Best of luck, =3
Private tutoring is pretty common for learning languages, music, or for students in general. If you're willing to pay, it shouldn't be difficult to find a graduate students to teach you.
Sorry, not an AI expert.
Also, we host a free AI Playground and Workshop every Wednesday at 11am-12:30est.
VCs, devs, film makers, founders, artists, coaches, it’s a cool space.
a@175g.com for an invite
Or just drop into AnthonyDavidAdams.com/zoom
I am an "AI expert" in the sense that I have been focused on applying generative AI for the last two years, (since we had useful general purpose LLMs).
Give me an idea of what you are trying to do and I will give you search terms to put in Perplexity or Claude or ChatGPT or whatever.
You are not going to find anything close to what you would get as far as value for mentoring as you would with LLM tools like I mentioned.
(I work for one, but I won't mention who, as that's not the point of my post.)
Domain experts in vast majority are not interested in tutoring, while domain "experts" are.