I’m looking to get a crash course on a few topics and am hoping to do that by sitting down with domain experts for intensive 1:1 sessions. Has anyone here approached learning in a similar way, and if so, how did you go about sourcing experts? Currently looking for an AI expert.
Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
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Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#2It depends on how much money you have. You could pretty easily pay someone on Intro to spend some time with you, but experts can be crazy expensive. You could also just do a ton of cold email with very specific questions and build your own network of mentors. I'm sure posting stuff like this on various forums could also end with someone volunteering their time.
The more specific you can be with what you want to learn, the better off you'll be though. "AI expert" is still pretty broad.
"Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask"
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#3Within reason consultants will usually do what their clients request modulo sufficient project budgets. That often includes training. Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#4Heh, a couple of years ago, I had an idea for an "Uber for Experts." It would provide a similar experience to Uber, but instead of a ride, you'd get 30 minutes with a domain expert of your choosing. I never got around to working on it, but there might still be an opportunity for something like this.
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#5It depends on how much money you have. You could pretty easily pay someone on Intro to spend some time with you, but experts can be crazy expensive. You could also just do a ton of cold email with very specific questions and build your own network of mentors. I'm sure posting stuff like this on various forums could also end with someone volunteering their time. The more specific you can be with what you want to learn…
yeah sadly capitalism is brutal about this. In the past mentoring and apprenticeship was based on the fact a business owner can get years of cheap labour out of you.
The economics dont really math out with software development, because to be a good software developer usually means you are smart enough to see when you are being exploited and nope out as soon as possible.
Then mentioning AI is an even deeper layer of "nobody wants you to know the tricks that is making them scam money"
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#6I would love to teach these kinds of sessions. But I have to have the time, it has to be a subject I know well, and I need to be fairly compensated.
Sorry, not an AI expert.
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#7https://Codementor.io is a platform designed for exactly that. I am registered as a mentor there, though not so active. I have not used it as a mentee, so cannot vouch for the process or mentor pool though.
AI is very broad, what exactly are you wishing to learn/build/accomplish and where are you in the process?
I specialize in ML that intersects with time-series, sensor/IoT data and audio. Info in profile if anyone is interested.
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#8Heh, a couple of years ago, I had an idea for an "Uber for Experts." It would provide a similar experience to Uber, but instead of a ride, you'd get 30 minutes with a domain expert of your choosing. I never got around to working on it, but there might still be an opportunity for something like this.
Might honestly not be the worst idea!
People could put up basic profiles with their skills listed and you could purchase a time slot with them. It’d be relatively low commitment for both the experts and also the advice seekers.
Some technical problems might be verifying expertise but this could be handled with a sort of social proof like how LinkedIn allows users to vouch for certain skills. In fact you could probably facilitate account creation by pulling from the LinkedIn api.
But yeah, good luck if you build it!
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#9You might have better luck at local events for likeminded professionals and network from there. Most people who are worth their salt won’t likely want to teach their craft to a rando on the internet. Nothing personal, there’s just too much to do.
It would help to know what your objectives are with learning more about AI. Otherwise we can only guess at your motivations.
Re: Ask HN: Where to find domain experts for 1:1 tutoring?
#10https://www.perplexity.ai/ seriously. Or try just literally asking Claude.
I am an "AI expert" in the sense that I have been focused on applying generative AI for the last two years, (since we had useful general purpose LLMs).
Give me an idea of what you are trying to do and I will give you search terms to put in Perplexity or Claude or ChatGPT or whatever.
You are not going to find anything close to what you would get as far as value for mentoring as you would with LLM tools like I mentioned.