Life at DeepMind
Former intern turned intern supervisor, Richard Everett, describes his journey to DeepMind, sharing ideas and recommendation for aspiring DeepMinders. The 2023 internship functions will open on the sixteenth September, please go to https://dpmd.ai/internshipsatdeepmind for extra info.
What was your path to DeepMind?
Like many individuals, I beloved taking part in multiplayer video video games rising up. The interactions between human gamers and seemingly clever computer-controlled gamers fascinated me, and I dreamed a few profession in AI. This dream led me to pursue an undergraduate diploma in laptop science; a standard (however not unique!) pathway into the business. Nevertheless, after engaged on a number of analysis tasks with my professors, I developed a style for analysis and determined to proceed on in direction of a PhD.
Across the time I began my PhD, a small startup referred to as DeepMind was acquired by Google. As I appeared nearer at their analysis, I rapidly discovered it inspiring my very own analysis, and so in 2016 I made a decision to use for an internship. After a handful of interviews with engineers, researchers, and program managers, I didn’t get a proposal. Nevertheless, having met a bunch of nice researchers I made a decision to reapply the next 12 months and bought the internship. That have led to a full-time supply and I’ve been right here since, engaged on AI and serving to interns who’re going by means of the identical expertise.
Are you able to describe the internship interview course of?
The interview course of was thorough, however it’s advanced since I utilized. Right now’s interns can anticipate all the course of to final only a few months, which features a technical and a group interview. In my software, I listed the researchers that I used to be notably eager about working with, and was fortunate sufficient to talk with them after my technical interview. I used to be so excited. This was a singular alternative to speak about my previous work and brainstorm potential internship tasks with world-class researchers I had adopted for years, and ask them questions on DeepMind.
My recruiters have been extremely useful in guiding me by means of the method and offering sources to assist put together for the interviews. For the technical interview, I ready by revisiting my first-year undergraduate programs on arithmetic, statistics, and laptop science. For instance, reviewing linear algebra, calculus, chance, algorithms, and information constructions. I additionally practised some coding workouts the place I attempted to speak by means of what I used to be doing.
For the group interviews, I reviewed the group’s current work (e.g. papers, weblog posts, articles, talks), and considered how my work may relate to it. I additionally got here up with a brief listing of questions I needed to know extra about, just like the collaboration fashion of the group and the way previous internships had labored out.
What was it like once you joined full-time?
It took me a very long time to search out my footing! With so many thrilling tasks happening and sensible individuals to speak to, working at DeepMind usually looks like being a child on this planet’s biggest sweet retailer. For interns, growing and specializing in only one mission out of so many is difficult, particularly inside a restricted timespan. This was a problem I discovered in my very own internship, and these days I take pleasure in supporting new starters by means of this course of who’re experiencing the identical pleasure for the primary time.
Why did you get entangled with the internship programme as a full-time worker?
Having gone by means of the internship expertise myself, I can relate to what our aspiring and present interns undergo. It may be nerve wracking, thrilling, complicated, and provoking, all on the similar time. After receiving a lot assist throughout my internship, I needed to offer that very same assist to future interns. Because of this, I now coordinate my group’s internship programme and am in a number of teams which constantly search to enhance the programme throughout DeepMind. I additionally interview, mentor, and handle interns, in addition to spend time reaching out and speaking to potential candidates (e.g. at GraceHopper, NeurIPS, and analysis talks).
What sort of labor do interns do?
It’s at all times thrilling to see what interns resolve to pursue throughout their time with us. On my group (Sport Concept and Multi-Agent), we work carefully with interns to co-develop tasks which they will make their very own, and this has led to an unbelievable vary of tasks over time.
To spotlight only a few public examples, interns have designed new multi-agent environments (e.g. impressed by the social deduction game Among Us and assembly lines), developed infrastructure for studying human-agent interaction, used cooperative recreation concept for language models and negotiating team formation, labored on multi-agent inverse reinforcement learning, uncovered adversarial examples for reinforcement learning, mastered the game of Stratego, and utilized evolutionary game theory to online learning.
How would you describe the tradition at DeepMind? And your group?
In brief – sort and collaborative. Through the years, I’ve heard dozens of interns and new starters make the identical comment: “I can’t consider how pleasant and supportive everyone seems to be!”. The period of time, vitality, and assist that DeepMinders give one another is outstanding, and this extends all the way in which from firm veterans to first-day new starters. Everyone seems to be at all times joyful to seize a espresso to speak, focus on their work, share suggestions, and associate collectively on tasks.
For example, one among my favorite tasks at DeepMind (Learning Robust Real-Time Cultural Transmission without Human Data), got here from the shut collaboration between artists, designers, ethicists, program managers, QA testers, scientists, software program engineers, analysis engineers, and extra over two years. This various and collaborative tradition additionally extends to our internships, with intern tasks usually involving a number of collaborators and advisors from throughout the corporate (spanning roles, groups, and even places of work!). For instance, a number of of our interns on the Sport Concept and Multi-Agent group work carefully with DeepMinders from each the London and Paris places of work.
From left to proper, a subset of the mission’s authors: Ashley Edwards (RS, London), Miruna Pislar (RE, Paris), Kory Mathewson (RS, Montreal), Alexander Zacherl (Designer, London), Richard Everett (RS; London), Edward Hughes (RE, London), Avishkar Bhoopchand (RE, London).
Any ideas for aspiring DeepMind interns?
For college students who’re getting eager about AI, there are a great deal of simply accessible resources obtainable so that you can independently study extra in regards to the business and DeepMind: from papers, blog posts, and talks to open-source code, demos, and tutorials. It’s simpler than ever to get caught in! You may also get entangled in workshops and conferences, a lot of which supply scholar reductions and mentorship alternatives (e.g. Deep Learning Indaba, Cooperative AI). For me, I discovered my love of AI analysis by speaking to professors about their analysis in-between courses, engaged on tasks with them, after which reaching out to different researchers within the areas that excited me.
DeepMind is made up of sort, collaborative, and pushed individuals from all walks of life, and our internship programme displays that. Whether or not you’re an undergraduate or PhD scholar, learning a technical, bodily, or social sciences topic, and have AI/ML expertise or not, there’s doubtless an internship alternative for you. We provide internships throughout numerous groups in Analysis, Engineering, Science, Ethics & Society, and Operations.
Having gone by means of the method myself (twice even), I can utterly perceive and relate to how intimidating it may be to use. I’ve spoken to so many extremely gifted college students who incorrectly consider that DeepMind is out of attain or that their expertise are inadequate, and subsequently don’t even apply. In case you are contemplating making use of for an internship, my real recommendation for you is to simply do it. You don’t have anything to lose, and maybe each you and DeepMind have rather a lot to realize.
