In the second of a series of interviews with our SingularityNET team members, we speak to Tim Richmond from the marketing team and find out about his love for music, what it means for him to be part of SingularityNET’s community first philosophy and his journey with AI.

Hi Tim! Tell us a bit about yourself. Apparently, I am told you are a passionate musician.

Yes, I have been composing and producing music since I was around 14 years old and now I’m 44. Wow, what happened to the time? Time has always played a central role in my life, be it the timing of a piece of music, learning about our history or looking forward to what may be in our future. Similarly, I have a deep interest in theoretical physics, human longevity and in philosophy and of course, Artificial Intelligence.

How did you get into Artificial Intelligence?

I was aware of Artificial Intelligence from a child as I love Science Fiction novels like Permutation City by Greg Egan. I always believed that we would be able to create sentient self-aware AI one day, and I feel really amazed and filled with wonder that I am now actively working on making that a reality.

Then, it’s no surprise that you would eventually join SingularityNET. How did your journey begin?

I saw a crypto video with Ben and Sophia back in October 2017, and I knew of Ben’s work in AI from watching a documentary called ‘Singularity or Bust’, and so went on a mission to learn more. After finding the website, I joined our telegram group and was lucky enough to part in the ICO. It was so amazing to find like-minded people to discuss subjects that really interest me like the wider implications of AI.

It sounds like you enjoyed your time as a community member. What were some of the highlights?

The main highlight was being able to explore really deep subjects related to technology and the future with other members of the community. Another highlight was helping produce the first community led video about SingularityNET, and I am especially proud of putting together a series of lectures about the technological singularity and then delivering the talks myself in virtual reality.

Did your positive experience as a community member prompt you to join SingularityNET full-time?

As a community member, I worked as hard as I could to make SingularityNET’s vision a reality. Joining the team was like a dream come true because I could dedicate much more of my time to this end.

You must have been thrilled to work on a dream project. How has your experience been so far?

The opportunity to work on distributing AI and positively affecting so many lives is a great honor. Working for SingularityNET gives me a chance to spend my working hours on this subject that has been a passion of mine throughout my life. This has helped me grow as an individual while helping to achieve the wider goals of SingularityNET.

As a musician, you must have played in many bands. How similar is this to working as a team?

Music can be metronomic, or it can be very organic. This groove comes from the band members working together in a fluid way, creating a singular coherent piece of music. This is not unlike what it is to collaborate with team members at work. Each member adding their own flair and style into the mix, while resonating with each other and producing a singular focus towards the work.

Currently, how is it like working with the marketing team? Is the team hitting the right notes?

In my 25-year work experience, I have to say hand on heart, that the people I work with in the marketing team are the best I have ever worked with. There is a true sense of support, learning and constant closeness that we are working toward a common goal. It is exciting to be creative and explore projects that would normally be out of scope for the community. It is hard work, but it doesn’t feel like work because it is so enjoyable.

Opening one’s mind to new ideas and opinions is important to me. In a team, if everyone sticks solid to their opinions, nothing will work. As one of my idols, Bruce Lee said, “Become like water my friend.” So it’s been great that my team members adjust and are fluid to find solutions to the demands.

And how have your teammates helped you learn and enjoy from this process?

Arif is a natural leader, who really cares about accomplishing the goal with the best quality of work possible while taking full care of the team. He is the most present and personable manager I have ever worked with. With Ibby, I have learned a lot from her in the short time I have known her. She continually surprises me with her intellect and her deep insight into a variety of subjects. Similarly, Ahmad is a highly intelligent thoughtful author, who really takes the time to consider all the implications and intricacies of the subject he is writing about. Also, it has been enjoyable to work with Akram, who has a very stable approach and deals with every situation with a positive frame of mind.

Joining our community as a volunteer and later as a team member, I’ve had the good fortune to get to know and learn from these amazing people. Actually, most of our marketing team themselves came through the ranks as a community member first. I thoroughly enjoy looking back at the successfully completed projects that I have either played a part in as a team member or led as a project manager.

With such advantages of hiring from the community, do you think other companies should follow this lead of hiring members from the community?

Absolutely! Hiring from your own community gives you the luxury of really getting to know a person before looking at them from a professional perspective. As my father always used to tell me, “You can teach a person skills, but you can’t teach a person attitude”.

How do you feel hiring from the community impacts talent acquisition as a whole?

I think it is a great way to build teams that you already know will gel together. Community members are usually passionate about the project, so you know that there is a high chance they will go the extra mile.

What would you like to say to anyone interested in joining SingularityNET?

This isn’t an ordinary everyday desk job, we are literally building the future and inventing as we go. It is your chance to really make a difference in the world, touching many peoples lives. While giving you the chance to express yourself and grow as an individual. You will learn more about yourself and your potential in a month at SingularityNET than you could ever know in a decade elsewhere.

Very wise words of advice. And with similar wisdom, we would like to bring things to full circle, by asking what your favorite type of pizza would be?

It has to be a large super thin crust, double pepperoni, with an ice cold glass of Coke Zero! :)

Thank you very much, Tim. All the best on your quest for Singularity!

How Can You Get Involved?

If you have any further questions or would like to participate in the discussion about this interview, please visit our Community Forum.

For any additional information, please refer to our roadmaps and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about all of our developments.