A line you can often read on social media:
They don’t even know what a sigmoid function is, yet they call themselves AI experts.
At first glance, it sounds like a comment from an expert. And if it convinces you, then it is an expert — an expert in catching attention. Because the line, in truth, is a trick.
the tactic
The trick is to appeal to a familiar idea: that if you don’t master the “hard part” of something, you can’t be an expert. By that logic, a builder who doesn’t know how to make cement couldn’t be a construction expert. So before hiring an architect, you should make sure they master the chemistry of concrete — otherwise, you’re not hiring an expert.
the communication
Saying “AI” makes conversation easier, just as saying “computing” once did. Time passed, and now everyone distinguishes between software and hardware — but it took decades (hard to believe now).
Even so, I don’t remember anyone saying something like this:
They don’t even know what an epitaxial wafer is, and they call themselves computing experts.
🤔 Ah, right! 😀 Back then, social media didn’t exist 🤭
poor judgment
People who use phrases like that to sound like experts confuse an ecosystem with a single discipline. In AI, there are those who design mathematical models, those who create tools to use them, and those who apply them to real-world problems.
An AI expert can be a programmer, a linguist, a conversational designer, or a business specialist — each one within their domain. Reducing it all to “knowing what a sigmoid function is” is as shallow as judging how good a singer Freddie Mercury was by his ability to build a microphone.
the strategy
Some posts aim to inform; others aim for cheap clicks. They’re quick to write, easy to applaud, and empty of meaning. Their authors master the technique of visibility — not the subject they talk about.
good judgment
In AI, depth isn’t measured by the math you remember, but by how clearly you can apply it. The person who gets a chatbot to serve customers properly is closer to mastering the tool than someone quoting functions they’ve never used.
There’s more value in making a machine work for you than in showing off that you understand how it works inside.