The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI

by Fei-Fei Li

For my parents, who braved the darkness so I could seek the light. For the Sabella family, who shined the light of kindness when I was adrift in a world of strangers. For Silvio, who lights up my life’s journey with wisdom, patience, and strength. For my children, forever the brightest lights in my world.

No one in my life seemed to understand the fundamental nature of joy like he did, and without him, it was like my own ability to feel the same way had been attenuated.

As an immigrant, it’s easy to feel as if all of one’s problems are due to incursions from the outside world. But as was the case in China, and as is the case with just about any family anywhere on Earth, our greatest challenges often came from within.

As an immigrant, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was expected—obligated, even—to treat my scholarship as an economic lifeline: an entrée into a lucrative field like medicine, finance, or engineering, and thus an escape from life at society’s margins.

This specular exposure—the Hubble deep field—is a testament to how beautiful the answers can be.”

Neural networks, simply put, were a good idea born at the wrong time.

Stanford and MIT were among the most prestigious academic institutions on earth, and it seemed hard to fathom turning down an acceptance offer from either of them—let alone both. But Caltech punched far above its weight when it came to association with my heroes, with Feynman, Millikan, and even Einstein himself lecturing there over the years. At the very least, I couldn’t resist a chance to visit.

And the physics-related sightseeing opportunities were endless. I immediately spotted the site where Einstein was famously photographed riding his bicycle, casually passed the Millikan library, and happened upon the auditorium that served as the venue for Feynman’s legendary lectures.