Today we’d like to introduce you to Di Le.
Di, please share your story with us. Tell us how you got to where you are today?
The year is 1988, it’s an early Saturday morning and over a bowl of congee and dried pork, I’m hypnotized in a feeling of reverential astonishment, that I just witnessed the Dinobots defeat Devastator. Animated series like Transformers and video games would be the triggers that instituted my fascination and imagination towards robots and technology.
It’s comforting in retrospect, that the hours of lost sleep, that I now deeply miss, spent living and playing in artificial realities, were not forgone in vain. The creativity and inspiration drawn from those nights would perpetuate in my work for robotics, and AI. Like the Autobots, I too want to see a world where technology lives harmoniously and symbiotically with humanity.
So what kicked off my professional journey? Dancing on weeknights, as the beloved family mouse at Chuck E. Cheese’s. 😄 I’ve resolved that my resilient immune system was groomed in that mouse costume. But it was there that I first witnessed the meaningfulness and impact of crafting unique experiences and the impact that they can have on people.
Time warping through the following years, I graduated from UCSD. After a few major selection trials and errors, I developed a career designing user experiences and human-computer interactions for mobile applications, video games, AMRs (autonomous mobile robots), and AI systems that augment, accelerate and automate aspects of people’s lives.
With automation and intelligent systems quickly evolving and permeating through every functioning aspect of our lives, the ethics and responsibilities around the technological impacts are becoming exponentially paramount.
As a technology creator and communicator, I feel incredibly fortunate and impassioned to get to work with diverse groups of people, in propelling innovation but also in chartering and furthering responsible AI practices.
Looking back, I wish I could tell that wide-eyed, never silent, rebellious, terrified, confused, and ambitious little girl not to fret. She will go on to meet inspiring people, hear life-changing stories, and there will be many helping hands along the way.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Life is beautiful, challenging, and difficult. I know it’s relative, there’s a spectrum and many have it far worse than others. My parents were refugees from the Vietnam war, but we were the lucky ones, they were taken in by Canada and my mom persevered, making a better life for our family.
We didn’t have much, but as a kid, I never really felt poor or lacking. My mom was always amazing at making the best life for us, with what little we had. She would sew cute clothes for me, take me to the library for reading hours, and to McDonald’s as a treat on Sundays, after church. She spent the extra time teaching me multiplication and the periodic table of elements, all while she was studying and working as a single mom.
I’ve stumbled and have made countless mistakes along the way. When I look back, I didn’t just take the long and hard road, but I also dropped boulders and anvils on myself, more times than I’d like to admit. I’m thankful I inherited my mom’s resilience and perseverance.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In addition to my work on autonomous mobile robots at Brain Corp, and evangelizing the awareness of human-centered and responsible AI, at ServiceNow I help design enterprise automation solutions.
I create AI implementation tools and pipelines that aid in machine learning explainability, data awareness, and understanding, and also helping businesses to leverage machine learning through the lens of business use cases.
I am also a CES innovations awards judge, a start-up co-founder, an educational partner with O’Reilly/Pearson, and a co-chair with the Data Science Alliance working group, chartering responsible data science.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the multifaceted diversity, from the people to the industries that are growing in this city. There’s so much opportunity here. I remember being told that I would have to move to LA or the Bay area if I wanted to launch my career. I’m forever thankful, to the start-ups that took a chance on me and fostered a space for me to grow with them.
Something else I appreciate is the underlying cool and easy vibe, amidst the hustles and bustles.
With growth also comes more people. I definitely miss the days of lesser traffic and I wish San Diego had better public transportation. Imagine if we were able to get to the airport directly, just by using the trolly.
Contact Info:
- Email: di@ux.run
- Website: www.ux.run
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dinoobot/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/din00bot
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@din00bot
Image Credits
Brain Corp
Softbank Robotics
Discovery Channel
