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Keeping up with the Joneses? Maintaining focus in AI

· 3 min read
Isaac Chung

AI is a fast moving field. This applies for both products and academia. There are new papers on NLP/LLMs/CV/ML coming out almost every day, and there are no shortage of new products and companies popping up on our social feeds. How do we know if our time is well spent focusing on one topic? Would it be better to "keep up with the Joneses" and explore every new development as they come?

This blog isn't technical. Instead, I aim to start a conversation around maintaining focus.

Key questions I'll address are:
  • Should we chase every new AI innovation?
  • Without focus, what are the chances of our research succeeding in the long term?
  • How do we balance research and commercial needs?

Should we chase every new AI innovation?​

I can imagine that many of you are also struggling with this question. Keeping up with every new development demands a lot of time and resources, while ignoring them might leave us behind, making our knowledge obsolete. However, having a dedicated focus makes it easy to 1) dive deeper into the topic and 2) limit the need to stay current on everything. This allows for deeper progress in select areas but might mean we don't stay current with every new trend. By chasing the latest trends, we risk spreading ourselves too thin and losing focus.

Without focus, what are the chances of our research succeeding in the long term?​

ML research teams usually have fairly long term focuses, which are already aligned with clearly defined commercial needs. But that's not always the case. Teams often are required to manage demands like supporting product releases and handling multiple lines of work.

But what's the impact of a lack of focus in research?

  1. Loss of continuity: Regularly switching focus means you might not spend enough time on one topic to make substantial progress. You might not complete you work, or have time to develop as deep an understanding as you'd like. Alternatively, you might keep returning to the work and have to suffer through repeated starting phases, which are often less productive than the middle and end stages of research.

  2. Resource dilution: Dividing your limited time and cognitive resources across multiple topics prevents deep dives into any one area. Shallow work in multiple areas is less likely to yield significant breakthroughs compared to sustained deep work in one area.

  3. Goal fragmentation: Achieving long-term goals requires sustained effort and clear, consistent objectives. Frequent changes can fragment your goals and dilute the clarity of your research path.

  4. Building on results: Research often builds incrementally, where each phase relies on the outcomes of the previous phase. Without cumulative progress, your research might lack the depth and evolution necessary for significant discoveries.

  5. Team dynamics: Consistent focus areas facilitate better collaboration and synergy within your team, while frequent changes can be confusing and demotivating. This can lead to a loss in productivity and innovation.

How do we balance research and business needs?​

Business needs could be a product release or a service delivery, whereas research needs could be to investigate emerging technologies and techniques that may not have immediate commercial applications.

To balance these two needs we could:

  1. Set clear, multi-purpose goals: Try to align our research objectives with commercial goals where possible. Identify areas where advancing academic knowledge can directly contribute to product improvements or innovations.

  2. Leverage external resources: Collaborate with academic institutions to stay on top of research while sharing the burden of exploratory work. Use conferences, publications, and peer reviews to gain feedback on our progress.

  3. Secure support and resources: Ensure that stakeholders understand the value of long-term research and support us with appropriate resources and funding. We want to avoid research projects being overshadowed by immediate commercial demands.

  4. Understand core competencies: Play to our strengths and understand when to outsource and find ways to compliment the teams' weaknesses.

Speed vs quality​

Balance requires tradeoffs. While some may prefer to work quickly and chase multiple goals simultaneously, it's crucial to balance urgency with the need for quality and thoroughness in both research and product development. Rushed commercialization can lead to:

  • Incomplete solutions: Products that fail to fully address the intended problem or meet user needs.
  • Technical debt: Issues that accumulate over time, requiring significant resources to resolve later.
  • Brand reputation: Potential harm to the company’s reputation if the product performs poorly.

Conclusion​

The decision to chase every new innovation or maintain focused efforts is a constant dilemma. Ultimately, finding this equilibrium is crucial to ensure that we can drive meaningful progress while escaping the pitfalls of rushed commercialization. Let me know in the comments what you think and your experience with keeping on top of the latest developments.