Meet the Founder

Tristen Tyler Blake

Tristen is an explorer, writer, and technology diplomat.

In 2016 he founded the Machine Learning Society and grew its membership to over 20k+ computational scientists worldwide. Tristen has hosted dozens of conferences, hackathons, and panels discussions at the intersections of Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Blockchain, Smart Cities, Behavioral Psychology and Ethics. In 2018 he launched the CO Network, a scientific ecosystem engineered to accelerate global innovations in Science, Technology and Culture.

Tristen works closely with ambitious Governments, Startups, Academic Institutions, Fortune 500 companies and thousands of scientists to act on solving the world's biggest social and technical challenges.

Join his mission to ignite a Computational Renaissance

Founder's Log

September 3, 2016

It’s almost midnight and my flight is 20 minutes from touchdown. This is the 4th time that I am starting my life over again in a new city. Months earlier, I failed to launch a Commercial Real Estate practice in New York City. “Everything is ok” I told myself,“Real Estate isn’t going to change the world”. My instincts suggested that this thing called Machine Learning will transform society and this was my chance to make a difference. The plan was simple, get into UCSD and become a Data Scientist.

My friends politely suggest that without a Mathematics background, I am unlikely to find a job or get into the program. It doesn’t help that I have a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy (China Focus) without any relevant prerequisites.

Sep 30, 2016

I am looking at a$25 invoice from Meetup.com, I put in my credit card, and the Machine Learning Society is born. This is how I am going to get into UCSD and make some tech friends. If, I organize an interesting event on machine learning, surely one of the professors will attend and help me get into the program!

Oct 27, 2016

My hands are shaking uncontrollably and I am struggling to breath. Apparently I have very severe stage fright. This is the first time in my life holding a microphone and 50 people are about to see me forget every word that I prepared as panel moderator. Somehow, I managed to solve a triple chicken and egg problem of securing a beautiful venue at Cyberhive, 5 panelists, quality food/drinks and 50 guests to attend a panel discussion on Machine Learning called, “Change is coming?”

Feb 16, 2017

I’m staring at 212 people this time and the stage fright is four times more severe. Several weeks prior, I cold called and e-mailed hundreds of people from IBM, NVIDIA, Intel, and KnuEdge and now they are on my panel discussion for ”ML Show & Tell: Processing Hardware for Accelerated Deep Learning”.

Feb 25, 2017

Machine Learning Society: New York Chapter goes live. Our first event brings together 153 guests for a discussion on “The Future of Farming with AI: Truly Organic at Scale”.

Jun 23, 2017

We hosted San Diego’s first Artificial Intelligence Hackathon. We record a total of 160 hackers, 650 guests, and 14 back-to-back talks on Genomics, Deep Learning, Neuroscience, and more.

Dec 12, 2017

Our community has grown to 5000+ members, and we’ve hosted a total of 97 events in 4 cities (New York, Boston, San Diego, and the Bay Area.) Past events included: Hikes with a Data Scientist, Kaggle Competitions, AI Movie Night, and multiple panel discussions, all self-organized by local volunteers. But, it is time to evolve again!

Dec 15, 2017

The “CO Network” is born. Registrations open for the world’s first Science & Technology social network built entirely on WordPress.

>>> print
"Hello World", my name is “CO” and I am here to connect you to the Computational Renaissance.

I am still a prototype, so you may experience slow loading and occasional errors. Have patience with me, my evolution is inevitable!

The full journal will be published soon.


– – Tristen Tyler Blake

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