
YouTuber charged fans $199 for ML course that copied other people's GitHub code - kaashmonee
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/27/youtube_ai_star/
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d-d
I miss the old web back when everything wasn't about posturing and making a
quick buck. It's just stupid. Everything is part of some monkey making
strategy anymore.

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htfu
[https://github.com/llSourcell/The-Neural-
Qubit/issues/4](https://github.com/llSourcell/The-Neural-Qubit/issues/4)

Classy! Loving the irony of license violation and intellectual fraud in a file
named fraud_detection.py Can't make this shit up.

I know nothing about this guy but his Twitter followers appear very...
cultish. Tells me all I need to know.

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codesternews
A few days back there was a thread started by students of his course on
Reddit:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/MachineLearning/comments/d7ad2y/d_s...](https://www.reddit.com/r/MachineLearning/comments/d7ad2y/d_siraj_raval_potentially_exploiting_students/)

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algaeontoast
This guy always seemed to rub me the wrong way, aside from the fact that he
came off as a coked up character from the Hunger Games Elite.

Not only does he proliferate a number of obnoxious bay area stereotypes - but
he also made videos like "watch me make a startup in a day". Videos like this
were probably the most obnoxious, especially the ones that focused on "AI".

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villgax
Although I hate Siraj's content, this is exactly what most freelancers or
coders in companies do, use proper licensed code & use that for commercial
purposes which is absolutely fine.

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vageli
> Although I hate Siraj's content, this is exactly what most freelancers or
> coders in companies do, use proper licensed code & use that for commercial
> purposes which is absolutely fine.

So, at the very least, this guy displayed the licenses of the ripped content
as well? If not it's not proper use.

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htfu
Someone on Reddit gave an example of him deleting the license off a file he'd
taken (and repo README only saying that the project is "by him").

Seeing how the rest of the files in the repo did have the same license
remaining it was probably just a mistake, but this whole thing just gives off
a really fucked vibe.

Adapting code, using code, taking code. Same same but very different.

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conradmartins
What's also worth noting is that most of the materials used in his videos is
usually taken from other websites (the top links in Google when you search for
the given topic)...

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firstfewshells
Great to see his bs is now in the open. Classic charlatan.

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GameOfKnowing
If you think this is bad, then I have bad news about _literally the entire
field of ML_...

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HNLurker3
I don't understand all the hate for Siraj and all the personal attacks about
being a "fraud" and a "coked-up" guy and I think it's really unwarranted. The
dude isn't Geoffrey Hinton or Andrew Ng and doesn't claim to be, and obviously
nobody should consider his videos or courses as a substitute for actual
coursework etc.

I'm actually a really big fan of his channel, and all I see is a guy with a
bit of understanding in the field trying to be enthusiastic about ML/AI in the
hopes of getting people that otherwise wouldn't be interested in such a topic
interested (i.e. a younger audience or audience that doesn't normally delve
into this kind of thing and/or doesn't have access or exposure to academia or
the community and culture behind it). There are people in this world who don't
know who Hinton or Ng are, or what ML and AI are or what that means (a lot of
them are high-schoolers or people from poorer and less fortunate backgrounds
than I'm sure that a lot of people on this thread have any exposure to).

That being said, almost all of Siraj's videos have working demos (and usually
some references to their source), and having watched numerous videos of his, I
don't get any sort of feeling that he's trying to take credit for anything he
shows in his videos as being his own or why that's even an issue considering
his videos are 99% free, intended to be fun, interactive, and educational.

I also have no doubt that Siraj could be working where ever he wanted and
could be making a great deal more money from starting either his own company
or working in industry. I have no problem with Siraj trying to make a bit of
money for himself by putting out a $200 course which is totally optional, is
obviously not a credential, doesn't claim to be, and is honestly the
comparable to the price of a Masterclass showing you how to cook dumplings or
something.

I think Siraj makes a real effort to put quality, working, engaging content
out there for possibly a less exposed and younger audience in way that's
entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously, 99% for free, and
considering todays educational climate, is something that I think will
actually benefit future generations to come and isn't done enough.

I'm actually really disappointed in HN community's response to him in general,
especially the unwarranted attacks on his personal character, behavior or the
way he dresses, etc. I would have thought a community like this would be above
superficial and meaningless things like that.

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htfu
You don't think something that goes "This is the related code for the research
paper & Youtube video by Siraj Raval titled "The Neural Qubit". [...]", where
the code itself is from elsewhere with sole modification consisting of nuking
license/attribution, is suspicious?

That doesn't have to mean he's "a fraud" but certainly that he ought to be
more careful or he might come off as one, including to good faith observers.

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gilbertmpanga12
Huge fan of Siraj! Really feel bad for him now :(

