I am going to start with a confession. I have always struggled with math. Not basic arithmetic. I can obviously add numbers. But the deeper mathematical thinking that many computer scientists seem to grasp so naturally has never come easily to me.
That has always bothered me because I am also the kind of person who cannot stop obsessing over computers, systems, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. Math is supposed to be one of the great superpowers of computer science.
For a long time, I felt like I was playing the whole game on hard mode.
Discrete mathematics, graph theory, probability, complexity theory. These subjects intimidate a lot of developers. For years, they intimidated me too.
But here is the part that changed everything.
Once someone explains these ideas clearly, they stop feeling impossible.
Discrete math is not really about suffering through abstract symbols for no reason. It is about learning how computers think. Logic, sets, graphs, recursion, algorithms. Once those ideas click, a huge amount of computer science starts making sense.
That realization changed the way I learn. It also changed the way I teach and write.
And in a strange way, it is one of the reasons Pithy Cyborg exists.
Why I Started Pithy Cyborg
I write Pithy Cyborg | AI News Made Simple, a free artificial intelligence newsletter and website focused on making AI easier to understand.
My work is read by thousands of curious readers from around the world, including PhD researchers, startup founders, and engineers building some of the most interesting AI projects on the planet.
Artificial intelligence is moving at a speed that feels almost inhuman. New models appear constantly. New tools launch every week. New papers drop every day. If you tune out for a month, it can feel like the whole field has changed.
Most people do not have time to sort through endless tweets, research papers, product announcements, benchmarks, blog posts, and marketing hype just to figure out what actually matters.
That is where I come in.
I study the technology, test the tools, follow the developments, and then try to explain what is happening in plain English.
No hype. No nonsense. No pretending every model update is the dawn of a new civilization.
Just practical explanations of how modern AI works, what it can actually do, where it fails, and why it matters.
The Boston University Story
But I am not writing from the top of some ivory tower.
I am a graduate school dropout.
Years ago, I attended graduate school at Boston University. Eventually, I dropped out. Not because I was lazy or did not care, but because I felt like I was not good enough.
All of my peers bragged about how well-connected, rich, and successful they were. Meanwhile, I was working enterprise IT at the time, was stressed out more than you would believe, and still could barely afford to drive to work in the morning.
I looked around and thought everyone else belonged there more than I did.
They seemed smarter. More accomplished. More confident. Better connected.
Meanwhile, I felt like an impostor.
I remember thinking, very clearly, that everyone else belonged in the room and I did not.
That feeling never fully disappeared.
Even now, many of the people who read my work are more accomplished than I am. Some are PhD-level researchers. Some are founders. Some are engineers building incredible tools. Some are successful vibe coders shipping things faster than most people can understand them.
And yet they still read my newsletter.
That experience shaped the whole mission of Pithy Cyborg.
I know what it feels like to be curious about difficult technology while also feeling behind, intimidated, or excluded. I know what it feels like to want someone to explain things clearly without talking down to you.
So I built the resource I wish I had.
Who I Am
I am an IT nerd from the Greater Boston area who has spent years working in technology for some of the largest organizations on Earth.
Along the way, I earned multiple science degrees and developed a deep fascination with programming, cybersecurity, algorithms, distributed systems, and artificial intelligence.
I have also taught more than 30,000 students across more than 140 countries.
Teaching that many people forces you to learn one important lesson very quickly. If your explanation is confusing, people will let you know.
That experience shaped how I write.
Most of my work now sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, programming, and computer science. I focus on making complicated technical ideas clear enough for curious readers, developers, and builders who want substance without unnecessary jargon.
Some people call that AI journalism.
I usually just call it being a nerd who cannot stop thinking about computers.
Quick Facts
↳ Technology professional with more than a decade of experience in the tech industry including IT infrastructure and systems administration.
↳ Instructor to 30,000+ students across more than 140 countries.
↳ Author of hundreds of articles on computer science, artificial intelligence, and programming.
↳ Founder of Pithy Cyborg | AI News Made Simple.
↳ Writer focused on practical explanations of AI tools, models, and developer workflows.
What I Write About
Most of my work focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, programming, and computer science.
Here are the main topics I cover:
↳ AI Fundamentals → how modern AI systems work, including large language models, embeddings, transformers, hallucinations, and machine learning basics
↳ Prompting → practical prompt engineering, prompt design patterns, and ways to get better results from AI systems
↳ RAG and Search → retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases, semantic search, and grounded AI answers
↳ AI Agents → agent frameworks, tool use, multi-step workflows, and the strange ways autonomous systems break
↳ Local LLMs and Self-Hosting → private AI, open-source models, quantization, GPU constraints, and running language models on your own hardware
↳ AI Security and Privacy → prompt injection, data leakage, model vulnerabilities, privacy risks, and safer AI deployment
↳ AI Coding and APIs → building AI applications with APIs, frameworks, coding assistants, and real developer workflows
↳ AI Ethics and Society → the human consequences of AI, including labor, power, regulation, identity, and the future of creative work
↳ Model Reviews and Benchmarks → what new models can actually do, what benchmark results mean, and which claims are mostly marketing
If you want to understand how AI works, where it fails, which tools are worth paying attention to, and what all of this means for the future, you are in the right place.
Final Thoughts
Artificial intelligence is one of the most important technologies of our time.
But understanding it should not require a PhD, a research lab, or a tolerance for unreadable jargon.
My goal with Pithy Cyborg is simple.
→ Make AI easier to understand.
→ Make computer science (AI) feel less intimidating.
→ Help curious people stay ahead of one of the fastest-moving technologies in history.
If you are trying to understand artificial intelligence without drowning in hype, jargon, or marketing nonsense, you will probably feel at home here.
If that sounds useful to you, I would love to have you join me.
Welcome to Pithy Cyborg | AI News Made Simple.
→ Always FREE to Read!