What I Learned in My First Year as a Machine Learning Engineer

I discovered the importance of venturing into uncharted territory and embracing things that don’t work. Additionally, I recognized that decision making and communication pose greater challenges than technical skills alone.

Start of the Day and Imposter Syndrome

I work in an AI healthcare startup and I was the first Machine Learning Engineers to be hired. We are engaged in the development of exciting AI tools that will eventually be deployed to detect various types of diseases (I cannot disclose specific details due to my NDA, but that is not the focus of this article). Since I work remotely, my typical day begins with waking up, preparing breakfast, and going through existing research papers while having my breakfast. Afterwards, I continue coding from where I left off the previous day. Throughout the week, we gather for collaborative meetings, where we have the opportunity to share our latest research findings and decide which papers to delve deeper into. These meetings are not solely focused on work; they also serve as occasions to connect and brainstorm.

In this article, I won’t delve deeply into the specifics of my day-to-day work. Instead, I will focus on sharing a particular misconception I had while learning Machine Learning and how my understanding has…