Anjney Midha, who founded an AI compute firm after leading investments at a16z, claims that deep grounding in physics, philosophy, biology, and economics equips someone for frontier machine learning work better than most CS PhDs. He centers the argument on the idea that frontier research boils down to modeling complex systems rather than collecting specific degrees.
physics, philosophy, biology and economics
master these at a fundamental level and you will be more formidable than 99% of machine learning researchers with computer science PhDs
frontier research is about abt modeling complex systems more than anything else - not degrees
Midha offers the view as an assertion without linked benchmarks, case studies, or tracked outcomes, so whether the interdisciplinary route actually produces stronger researchers is left open.
One high-profile reply voiced agreement while others floated alternative fields or questioned how recruiters would weigh the advice, keeping the thread focused on discussion instead of data.
Positive users endorse the claim that mastering physics, philosophy, biology, and economics outperforms ML PhDs for frontier AI research, while negative users doubt its productivity and long-term economic value.
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fair question
@amppublic we get a lot of calls for help from our labs when research roadmaps aren’t going quite as planned
in exchange for unblocking their most urgent bottlenecks, we often have the privilege of learning from the most ambitious teams at the frontier
he's never been at a frontier lab... how does he know???
@rlacombe @AnjneyMidha Chemistry? Physics is everything - the laws of nature guide all of it
@AnjneyMidha i agree but recruiters don’t.
@AnjneyMidha yes
physics, philosophy, biology and economics
master these at a fundamental level and you will be more formidable than 99% of machine learning researchers with computer science PhDs
frontier research is about abt modeling complex systems more than anything else - not degrees
@AnjneyMidha Chemistry. Everything is chemistry — materials, drugs, cells, organisms, engines, rockets, planets. All of it.
@AnjneyMidha based!
@AnjneyMidha Systems > credentials
@AnjneyMidha swap physics for math and biology for history. just because some agi lab ceos studied neuroscience doesn't mean it's necessary
@AnjneyMidha doubt you would get anything done productive after this stack, more doubt if it would produce economic value after agi takes over
@AnjneyMidha How do you know when you’ve reached a fundamental level in each? because people can spend their lives just studying one subject
plus any sources you’d recommend?
@AnjneyMidha Lol just build
@AnjneyMidha No maths?
@AnjneyMidha Assuming that this is true we are out of our depth in dealing with the understanding of the situation if we are not predicting with hard physics and engineering but instead we are using fuzzy techniques from areas of science that have fuzzy theories like economics and philosophy.
@HendrenLucas @AnjneyMidha It’s a matter of perspective :)
(Just mentioned chemistry cause it’s the key one missing from his list)
@AnjneyMidha And math
@AnjneyMidha recommended books?