🎊 AI Spotlight: Anke Hao 🎊

We’re excited to present Anke Hao, AI Engineer at PwC as this week’s AI Spotlight. 

Let’s dive into our interview with Anke and see how she is using AI.

1. Share your AI origin story

I first came into contact with genAI through the GPT-3 Curie model in 2021, before any foundation models were widely known to the public. My professor had introduced us to AI Dungeon, an 'infinitely generated text adventure game', because she wanted to show us what was possible beyond classical ML.

As a hobbyist writer, I was immediately hooked--I used AI Dungeon both to play 'choose your own adventure' games, and to write stories hand in hand with the AI through its freeform feature. Although the early GPT models were way more prone to repetition or random hallucinations than current models, I was still amazed at how little it took for it to spin up a story or build in a surprising twist to my initial plot.

My experience with these early GPT models also spurred me to take the AI/ML specialization for my CS degree, and that was right around the initial ChatGPT launch. From there, I dove into working with and then eventually building genAI use cases.

Although several use cases have solidified as key wins for genAI--including the one I'm involved in the most, accelerating the software development lifecycle--I am still drawn to that initial use case I saw, where whole worlds and character interactions were created dynamically through user input.

2. What AI tools have been most game changing for you? 

1. Gemini Live

2. Kaggle

3. Claude

3. If you were just starting your AI journey today where would you start? 

I’d start with curiosity, not code. AI can feel overwhelming with all the new models, languages, and tools. But the best way to start is by going to events in your area or following key newsletters, soaking up information, and asking any foundational questions that come up:

• What problems do I care about, and could genAI solve them?

• What are the key terms I keep hearing (RAG, RLHF, post-training, etc)?

• What does "responsible AI" really mean in practice?

Note: these questions don't include "which framework to use" or "which is the best model"--that'll come later, when you have a use case to build. In this post I recommend a few newsletters and podcasts to get started with.

4. Share the spotlight: Name 3+ women leading in AI we should all follow. 

Ya Xu: I met Ya at VentureBeat Transform last year. I was amazed at both her insights on her panel and the technical journey she took from classical AI/ML to now building foundation models at Deepmind! Mira Murati: I used to see her speaking on firm-wide broadcasts around GenAI, and was amazed at how she took the time out of her undoubtedly busy day to answer our questions. Really admire how she spun off to create her own company (Thinking Machines Lab) after her tenure as OpenAI's CTO. Daniela Amodei: A must-follow for anyone interested in AI safety and research (as well as Anthropic in general!). Special shoutout to WOMEN x AI as well! Jenny and Reut have truly been going above and beyond to build up such a supportive and powerful community.

Following WxAI and going to their events is a great way to get connected to amazing builders and leaders in the space!

5. As a woman in AI, what do you want our allies to know? 

Call out bias, especially the subtle kind.

When someone assumes the man in the room is the lead AI researcher and the woman is the project manager--or if women are being cut off, overlooked, or not in the room at all, say something.

When datasets or models are biased with unrepresentative data and nobody else speaks up, challenge it. This tech is shaping the future—we all deserve a say in how it’s built.

Want to be the next in AI Spotlight? It’s a great opportunity to share your voice with our community!

Fill out the WxAI AI Spotlight Nomination Form for your chance to step into the AI Spotlight and to share your voice with the Women And AI community.