Artificial Intelligence & Software Engineering Personal Statement Example

The first episode of Star Trek I ever saw was ‘Data’s Day’. If you haven’t seen the show, an android attempts to help his friends get married; unfortunately his lack of emotions/understanding complicate matters. I found Data fascinating and Noonien Soong, his creator, became my idol.

I figured if someone could imagine building an android with human-like learning abilities, it could become a reality.

This chance encounter with a show I always assumed was geeky and lame is what sparked my fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Since then, I’ve been researching brain mapping projects, artificial intelligence, machine learning, consciousness, and the like.

It’s difficult to find anything in upstate New York related to this field, and the only computer related thing I’ve been able to do is working at the college helpdesk. I have found, however, multiple projects based in Europe that I would love to be a part of, which is one of the reasons I want to attend University across the pond.

Two projects that stick out in my mind right now are the Human Brain Project and the Blue Brain Project. I’ve been following their progress, however slow, for almost a year now, and I can’t imagine studying a component of their project so close to their home. Hopefully I can end up working for or with them in some capacity, especially Blue.

The idea of a synthetic brain is absolutely incredible, the possibilities are endless, and the thought that they may create a consciousness is beyond comprehension. Believe me. I’ve tried.

Creating a synthetic brain is one thing; but being able to program a personality, a real personality, would be the most amazing thing I could ever imagine.

It may be a cliche, but words truly cannot express how simply mind-blowing I find this field of research.

When I started college at SUNY Adirondack, I chose the Computer Science course because I knew I wanted to wind up writing software with a group of people to create real machine learning. I won’t recite my classes, but I would like to point out that they do give me a solid base for the degree program.

The school system is different across the pond, but I feel that my performance so far in an American college proves that I am not only able, but ready to move on to a more specialised, albeit more difficult, program.

Despite the difficulty that such a specialised program would command, I know software engineering and artificial intelligence is the future, and I would love to be a part of that, with your guidance.

Quickly, I will comment on my Calculus grade. It may be a bit lower, but I believe it gave me a solid base in Calculus, and as such, I would have no issues if it is necessary to take it again. In addition, I plan on retaking it this summer to keep the concepts fresh. In any case, my activities around the community speak to my commitment to any cause I take up.

I have volunteered at the ASPCA shelter for almost three years total; at our public library I have helped with community projects such as movie nights and programs to encourage reading in younger children; in high school I was lead attorney in our Mock Trial team and was part of the team who brought our school to states for the first time in years.

Also in high school I captained the Quiz Club, leading us to victory time and time again; finally in high school I accompanied the Environmental Club to a state level competition at an area college after winning the local round of competition and acted as a captain of the team the year after; I can say little about college activities, having attended for only one, however I did start a Coloring Book club to encourage relaxation as midterms and finals neared.