acknowledgments
Writing a book or having a career, especially in a field such as AI, is never a solitary endeavor, even when much of the work happens in quiet hours of research, coding, and drafting. I want to take a moment to thank the people who supported me at key points along this journey.
First, I would like to thank Markus Oehmann, who encouraged and supported me at the very beginning, when I first started out in AI. Although our lives ultimately took different paths, his support in those early years gave me the confidence to follow research as my true fulfillment. For that, he deserves his place here.
I am deeply grateful to Prof. Dr. Christoph Denzler, who believed in me early on, bent the rules when needed, and supported my first thesis. That thesis ultimately set me on the path that led to this career. His support provided the foundation for my first published paper and for everything that followed.
I also want to thank Luis Serrano for generously writing the foreword and for being such a remarkable educator whose work continues to make AI accessible and inspiring for a wide audience.