From PhD to AI Innovator: Aninda Saha discusses joining Leonardo AI's founding research team, the Phoenix foundational model, Leonardo's integration with Canva, tackling bias in AI research and more.

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In this episode of the AI Innovators Podcast, host Prashanth interviews Aninda Saha, a Senior AI Research Engineer at Leonardo, now part of Canva. Aninda shares his journey from completing a PhD to joining Leonardo, helping build their Phoenix model, and the eventual acquisition by Canva.

The discussion covers the challenges and innovations in AI generative art, particularly focusing on prompt adherence, knowledge distillation, and the democratization of AI.

Aninda also provides insights into the technical aspects of AI research, including issues of diversity, regional tastes, and optimizing generative models.

The episode concludes with Aninda's thoughts on the future of AI, including generative gaming and sustainable AI development strategies.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:23 Aninda's Journey from PhD to Leonardo

01:31 Early Days at Leonardo and Startup Experience

04:11 PhD Research and Knowledge Distillation

07:37 Democratization of AI

12:25 Leonardo's Growth and Success

14:51 Technical Challenges and Innovations

19:29 Leonardo's Integration with Canva

32:02 Future of AI and Closing Remarks