Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't consider "failures" as learning experiences, as I'm sure you are too.
W.r.t hiring, I can share some thing that really worked for me:
Engineering: I've had great success with giving prospects who pass the initial screen, a small real world problem or user story in our codebase. No NDA, just show them a User Story, and ask them how they'd go about it.
And just listen. Make it interactive. For example, I'd deliberately leave out a couple of details in User Story. So if the Engineer starts solutioning rightaway that's a red flag.
I've also shown snippets of code that has a simple bug, and asked them to "read" the code and figure out what might be wrong. The best engineers are ones who can read and understand other people's code also, in addition to their own.
Wishing you the best, in the next iteration of your entrepreneurial adventure!
Is there / are there a set of programming languages or commands specific to AI App development, or is this more like "adding" AI functionality to your existing Apps, written in various native languages like Andriod, IOS (Swift?) etc?
For example, the tutorial page has some code in a file called AI.JSX. Is this an AI specific programming language, or is it an example in 1 particular programming language?
Can a layperson who doesn't have much programming experience in traditional languages learn AI App Development provided they put the time in, or is it a very steep learning curve, and as such not advisable?
No, upwork didn't scam you. Aaron H scammed you after cleverly leading you outside their platform for payments.
You have no grounds to sue upwork. In fact, they have grounds to ban you based on their TOS that you agreed to.
> Ceed Civil asked that I pay them off of Upwork to avoid Upwork's fees. I stupidly went along with it because I wanted things to go well with him
This here is the issue. It'd have helped if you actually read and understood their TOS, then you'll realize they have no reason to ban the freelancer as you transacted outside their platform
Upwork's TOS clearly states the following (see section 3.5, line starting with "You can’t go around us"
> 3.5 Other uses that aren’t allowed
> Upwork relies on technology and trust – here’s how we maintain those things.
You can’t copy, share or give away your account. You can’t have multiple accounts and you can’t sell, trade or give your account to anyone else without our permission.
> You can’t go around us. In particular, you can’t talk to another user or ask for or share a way to get in touch - a means of direct contact - outside of Upwork before you’ve agreed to a service contract. This means you can’t add your contact details to a job post, your profile, communications or other content. (There are exceptions to this for Enterprise clients.)
W.r.t hiring, I can share some thing that really worked for me: Engineering: I've had great success with giving prospects who pass the initial screen, a small real world problem or user story in our codebase. No NDA, just show them a User Story, and ask them how they'd go about it. And just listen. Make it interactive. For example, I'd deliberately leave out a couple of details in User Story. So if the Engineer starts solutioning rightaway that's a red flag.
I've also shown snippets of code that has a simple bug, and asked them to "read" the code and figure out what might be wrong. The best engineers are ones who can read and understand other people's code also, in addition to their own.
Wishing you the best, in the next iteration of your entrepreneurial adventure!