Featured in Five is a monthly section where we pose questions to a Computing Reviews featured reviewer. Here are the responses from our January featured reviewer, Leszek Sliwko.
Q) What is the most important thing that's happened in computing in the past 10 years?
A) The last decade has been exceptionally dynamic in computing, and I would like to highlight two key developments. The first is cloud computing for everyone, that is, cloud services such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure have made powerful computing resources accessible to all. These capabilities come at a low cost, and these platforms have accelerated business growth and better scalability, and enabled individuals to have such power at their fingertips. The other key development is artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life. AI has become an integral part of daily routines, powering virtual assistants such as Siri and Gemini, and recommendation systems on platforms like Netflix. It is revolutionizing industries such as healthcare, education, and entertainment, driving innovation and improving efficiency.
Q) If you weren't working in the computer science field, what would you be doing instead?
A) I have always enjoyed working with people and observing the interpersonal dynamics between them. Early in my career, I realized that while individuals are more agile, can work faster, and pivot easier, a high-performing team is essential for building and supporting complex systems. This involves aligning a team to a shared vision, facilitating communication, navigating competing ideas, resolving conflicts, and overcoming challenges to deliver a working solution within the target timeframe.
Collaboration, effective communication, and influencing others play a critical role, especially in large organizations where multiple stakeholders may have competing objectives. It is never an easy task, but I have found that I genuinely enjoy working in such a dynamic environment.
Q) By the end of your career, where do you think computer science will have taken us? What are you working on that might contribute toward that?
A) With the advent of practical-use AI technologies, many specialists are concerned that AI models will eventually render many human professions obsolete, and I share those concerns to a certain degree. Many of my friends work in creative industries, providing advertising designs, various illustration services, and so on, and the rapid advancements in generative AI have substantially reduced their workstreams and income. The same can be said for various engineering professions, including software development; however, in these professions, AI plays a more complementary role, aiding human input (for example, various copilot plugins for programming environments) rather than completely replacing the human element.
Nevertheless, recent AI research, particularly in natural language processing (NLP) models, suggests that AI could develop genuine reasoning capabilities, which might also lead to a reduction in those professions. I can only hope that future trends will steer toward smooth cooperation between humans and AI, where both can play to their strengths. These are certainly interesting times, and a change is undoubtedly coming to the way we work.
My current focus is on applying machine learning models to augment distributed workload orchestration, particularly in the area of task scheduling on large computer clusters. In particular, I am convinced that current computing cell sizes can be increased without reducing the efficiency of the computing resources used.
Q) Who is your favorite historical figure? Why?
A) That would definitely be Thomas Alva Edison, for his incredible ability to combine business acumen with applied science. He understood how to commercialize his inventions and build successful businesses by addressing practical, everyday problems. He organized a team of researchers in his laboratory, streamlining the invention process. He also possessed an exceptional work ethic, spending long hours in his laboratory and testing hundreds of variations of his ideas until he overcame all challenges.
Edison also demonstrated strategic thinking by developing not only a range of products but also the infrastructure needed to support them. For example, in addition to inventing the light bulb, he also built a power station in New York to supply electricity directly to his customers. We can observe this same attitude among the giants of modern industry.
Q) What is your favorite type of music?
A) My favorite music is Sabaton (the Swedish band); however, my family doesn’t consider it to be music—it’s quite loud.
Click here to read one of Leszek’s reviews.