Confessions of a researchaholic

2025-08-20

Rise against hunger

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 2:29 pm
Tags: ,

Today he participated in a company volunteer activity to help fight hunger by packing dried food.

Within a large conference room were multiple stations of two types, one for mixing powdered vitamins, dried and chopped vegetables, powdered soy, and rice grains into bags, and another for weighing and sealing the bags.
Multiple volunteers were assigned to each station, and the process was repeated ad infinitum with pop music blasting in the background.

It was kind of fun to work and chat with other volunteers, but he started to wonder the value and goal of this activity.
All the equipments and materials had to be brought to and from the event venue, and the repetitive tasks seemed more suitable for robots than humans, not to mention employees who are paid (potentially high) hourly wages to do this.
So this volunteer activity looks like a form of employee benefits but with a more positive spin than the usual corporate parties.

2025-08-01

AI researchers paid like NBA all-stars

Filed under: Real — liyiwei @ 2:52 pm
Tags: ,

The recent pay scales of some AI researchers have been astronomical in historical standards partly as a reflection of the exponential potential of AI on every aspect of the human society.
However, these attention-grabbing numbers apply only to a few people and there are nuances about claw-backs and performance expectations (similar to CEOs’ pay packages at similar scales).

No less interesting but less noticed is the fact that there are fewer headlines about non-financial aspects of AI researchers’ work, such as work-life balance, sense of purpose, and job satisfaction, which are often more important than the pay scale in the long run.

As we grow older, we may realize that time and life quality are more valuable than money and fame.
Get paid for doing what we love, instead of the other way around.

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