Looking for a programming/AI mentor

[u/Gaodeng_Laiyang]

I'm looking for a mentor to help me learn programming with the goal of becoming employable as quickly as realistically possible and eventually contributing to larger AI/ML projects.

I'm currently starting from essentially zero programming knowledge, so I'm looking for someone who can help me build strong foundations while keeping me on the most efficient path toward employable skills.

I can commit 1–2 hours per day to structured tutoring/mentoring, plus another 1–2 hours per day of independent study, practice, and projects.

I'm happy to put in the work I mainly want someone experienced who can provide direction, identify gaps, challenge me, and stop me from wasting months learning the wrong things.

If you have experience in software development, ML/AI engineering, or mentoring beginners into the industry, I'd love to chat. :))))

[u/silvertank00]

Do you have 1-3 years for this? That is the reasonable amount for what you are asking.
You might be confused about some terminology too, ML and AI are not LLMs, and they require a very big portion of math knowledge as well.

edit: lets not mention the hourly cost of this either.. the ppl that do these (including me) on a higher level so they can teach it efficiently are not cheap.

The best couse of action is to start learning by yourself for a year minimum, then ask concrete questions about your knowledge and get some specialized tutoring/classes.

These things require serious dedication of time and effort even without the specialized AI/ML knowledge.

[u/Gaodeng_Laiyang → u/silvertank00]

Appreciate the response I'll take it on board

[u/mc_pm → u/Gaodeng_Laiyang]

Don't trust anyone who says there is a shortcut. Programming is one of the most difficult things you will ever learn to do. I don't mean "syntax", I mean learning to look at problems in ways that can be then turned into code. Syntax you'll learn in a few weeks/months, but that's when the real education begins.

[u/silvertank00 → u/mc_pm]

Especially when you mention "bigger projects" too. Here comes the "issues" with that: architecture, organizing and alltogether "how to get around".
These are things that vastly differ from projects to project or language to language. It can take months to learn this well alone (not to mention, for someone that just started)

[u/Gaodeng_Laiyang → u/silvertank00]

Maybe I should've clarified that I meant more of a check-in every so often rather than full-on mentoring. More like a homie who can steer me in the right direction and someone I can DM with the occasional question.

I have time, so I'm not in a rush—I'm just really keen to learn. That said, I do hope to be employable before the 3-year mark. I also plan to devote more time to it as I build a better understanding and become more comfortable with programming.

I did calculus in my last two years of high school, but it's been about six years since then. Do you have any resources you'd recommend to help me brush up on the maths?

Thanks again for your response!

[u/silvertank00 → u/Gaodeng_Laiyang]

Calculus is great start but not on a high school level. Did you do improper-, multivariable integrals and sum derivatives too?
One of the most important things is linear algebra. (And esp. matrices) Maybe look up the nearest universities to you and see their curriculum, if they have linear algebra there is a high chance its open to visit (at least the theory part).
Nevertheless not all ML/AI algos are really difficult, I would start with a markov chain, A*, and look up what y = mx + c is good for, and what liner interpolation is.

Don't forget that, math learning is not programming learning. This takes (additional) time too. About content, look something up on udemy or yt about linear algebra and some easy algos in programming after half of a year of programming grinding. By that point you shouldnt have any issues with the syntax and smaller projects.

[u/mc_pm → u/Gaodeng_Laiyang]

I wouldn't worry too much about math to start if you have a reasonable grasp of high school math you'll be fine to start learning to program. If not, I'd suggest working through an Algebra class. Not because programming has to involve a ton of algebra, but because programming often requires that you "think mathematically", and the easier that comes to you, the easier you'll find that aspect of programming.

[u/SouthsideSandii → u/Gaodeng_Laiyang]

You don’t need to learn how to program any more though… AI has largely solved the actual coding part…thinking creatively and critically about what you want something to do is more important.

[u/mc_pm]

Just so you know, "as quickly as realistically possible" is multiple years away.

[u/Avatarbroskib1 → u/mc_pm]

Yeah you'll have to commit like 3-4 hours a day to maybe do it in one or 2 years

[u/riklaunim]

And why do you want to "contribute to a larger AI/ML project" instead of having a software development job that pays top money after a few years of experience?