CVPR Daily - Tuesday

23 / 30

are not only smart, but who are
curious, who want to do new things. To
me, these are very important
characteristics of curiosity. You always
ask questions. If you are not curious
then there's nothing new here.
In research, we always say that the
most important question that is asked
is: What’s new? For example, what can
Microsoft Pix do that others cannot?
For me, those things need to be
nurtured.
We have here at CVPR a lot of young
startups trying to become the next
Microsoft…
Of course… and some of them will!
Would you advise them to put
curiosity at the highest level when
they recruit new people?
Absolutely! I think it’s especially
important for startups because you
need to find a way to, first of all,
survive then thrive. By following those
big companies ahead of them, they
have to start with something new:
something that others, the big
companies, have not paid attention to.
For me, I think curiosity is the most
important thing for the startups. They
need to have new ideas. Otherwise,
why did you do a startup?
Do you have any friends or colleagues
that had an extraordinary amount of
curiosity when they started, but then
it faded away as they got older?
I think as we get older, we do know
more because of the experiences we
have had. More often than not, by
applying previous knowledge, you get
a lot of things right. Curiosity is very
important in your mental state. Did
you want to have breakthroughs? Did
you want to do those new things? Do
you still care about how to do
something extraordinary that hasn’t
been done before?
I read a book, A Mathematician’s
Apology by Hardy. Hardy said that
when you get old as a mathematician,
your intellectual power goes down
after a certain age. I actually don't
know if we apply this at computer
vision. I feel that I’m at the prime of
my career! [we laugh together]
Can you give some advice to young
students on how NOT to become a 40
year old mathematician? [we both
laugh again] How do you keep this
mindset alive?
It’s very, very simple. There’s two kinds
of advice I always give, even to my
children. Be curious, and work hard.
Nothing can replace those things.
What advice would you give to
students? Let’s say someone who
feels like a techie that finished high
school and needs to choose a path in
university. Knowing that half of the
jobs that will exist in 5 years do not
yet exist, how can he choose the best
path?
I don’t think it’s that complicated. If
you look at human history, there are
always new technologies and new
professions coming up. I think it’s all
Harry Shum 23