无忧传媒

When the team lead for 无忧传媒鈥檚 cognitive solutions team started her career, she wasn鈥檛 a statistician or a computer scientist. But today, Principal Alison Thaung Smith is working in the heart of a highly technical field with generative artificial intelligence (AI), helping 无忧传媒 and its clients see 鈥渢he art of the possible鈥� with AI solutions like ChatGPT. Just last month, Alison鈥檚 team published a new report, titled 鈥�What to Know About ChatGPT and AI鈥檚 Future.鈥�

Learn more about Alison鈥檚 career path, how she鈥檚 found a place to thrive at 无忧传媒, and why she believes it鈥檚 so important to be visible and speak up鈥攅specially for women and people of color.

Alison studied political science and economics in college, before pursuing an M.B.A. Early in her career as a business and financial analyst, her interest in technology began with economic modeling. 鈥淚 started playing around with technologies and introducing them into my work,鈥� she says.

Her growing interest and expertise led to a position with a consulting firm where she focused on research and evaluation engagements and the pursuit of then-emerging fields like natural language processing (NLP).

鈥淚 was able to take the technical and analytical aptitude that I gained from building macroeconomic models and things like that to a separate problem set,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was an iterative and incremental learning approach.鈥�

Alison says that learning NLP and other aspects of AI on the job gives her 鈥渁n almost hacking-type way of approaching a problem.鈥�

鈥淭he way I approach problems is probably a little bit less academic or theoretical,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think both practical and theoretical perspectives are important, especially when you鈥檙e on a team solving really big problems for clients.鈥澨�

Alison鈥檚 cognitive solutions team comes from diverse backgrounds鈥攏ot only statisticians and computer scientists but also colleagues with liberal arts degrees. Together, they鈥檙e carving out a niche in today鈥檚 AI ecosystem: fine-tuning AI models and helping organizations integrate AI into their operations鈥攕ometimes in unexpected ways.

Take chatbots, for instance. It鈥檚 an area where 鈥渉istorically, people roll their eyes,鈥� Alison says. But advances in technology鈥攎ost notably with the explosion of OpenAI鈥檚 ChatGPT large language model late last year鈥攁re redefining what鈥檚 possible.

She shares one example from her work at 无忧传媒. 鈥淲e have brilliant researchers on our team with a history of working on large language models. They鈥檙e exploring ways to use these models to classify what a user wants and improve a chatbot鈥檚 contextual awareness.鈥�

鈥淭here are so many opportunities popping up left and right related to generative AI, from chatbots to conversational interfaces when interacting with AI systems,鈥� Alison says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e helping clients see the art of the possible.鈥�

Yet as the world sees just how powerful generative AI can be, and as people play around with ChatGPT to generate everything from research summaries to soup recipes, it鈥檚 critical to understand the risks and limitations as well.

For example, generative technology is not deterministic. 鈥淚f two people give the exact same prompt to ChatGPT or another generative algorithm, it might produce different results,鈥� she explains. In addition, 鈥済enerative AI can make stuff up and say it with extreme confidence. They call these responses hallucinations.鈥� This brings in the need for rigorous fact-checking.

鈥淲ith any exciting new technology, there are so many different aspects to it and tons of information out there. So, it鈥檚 really important to have a complete picture and see it in context,鈥� she says.

While highly technical expertise is necessary for any AI solution, Alison says, curiosity and a willingness to learn are far more important for a successful AI career.

To foster both, she recommends attending events like lunch-and-learns and connecting with people in the field, to forge the relationships that organically generate strong ideas. Another piece of guidance: Raise your hand for opportunities like organizing a hackathon, helping a colleague with a technical presentation, or giving a presentation yourself.

Alison admits that she wasn鈥檛 comfortable with public speaking at first. But she soon discovered that speaking up at meetings, in front of clients, and in public settings to be part of the job at 无忧传媒. Her manager assigned her a presentation鈥攖he first of many鈥攋ust 4 weeks in.

鈥淚 had to put myself in these uncomfortable situations so that I could gain confidence,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow public speaking doesn鈥檛 even faze me.鈥�

Alison calls public speaking 鈥渁n underestimated part of really technical jobs鈥� and a vital one. 鈥淚t's important to speak often and speak in highly visible situations so that other people have an opportunity to learn a different perspective,鈥� says Alison.

What鈥檚 more, being visible and heard encourages people with diverse perspectives to get involved in the field. 鈥淚t shows other women, and specifically women of color, that we have thoughts and that these thoughts are appreciated,鈥� she says.

Such appreciation means a lot to Alison personally.