A few minutes after I finished giving a talk on AI trends last week, as the audience began to disperse and the noise in the room started to fade, a young man approached me.

He was quiet, maybe a little nervous, and had waited until the crowd had thinned before stepping forward. He was the only university student in the room—surrounded by professionals, founders, and technologists twice his age—but he had clearly been paying close attention.

He asked me, simply, “How do I learn AI?”

There was something innocent in his voice. Not the kind of question meant to impress, but the kind that carries the weight of genuine curiosity. The kind of question I might have asked when I was his age. The kind I don’t hear very often anymore.