SHAZA: I would totally describe myself
as an average high schooler.
I like hanging out with my friends, watching movies,
getting my nails done, and lately I've
been into machine learning using convolutional neural networks.
I don't know why you're laughing at me.
AFSHIN: Since childhood, she's always
wanted to know everything.
SALMAN: Why is that?
How is that?
What does it do?
She just wants to be always learning, moving,
doing different stuff.
SHAZA: I haven't always been into computer science,
but my mom grows rosebushes in my front yard.
Every season they get diseased, and then my mom
and I would have to diagnose it.
SALMAN: Knowing Shaza, she wanted
to do something about it.
SHAZA: I had the idea as a potential thing
I could do for my research class with Ms. Son.
HYUNJIN SON: Why anyone would sit around their summer
vacation teaching a machine to identify plants, I'm not sure.
But that was what she wanted to do.
SHAZA: I wanted to have a way people
could diagnose plant diseases just by taking a photo of it.
And so that's when I started looking into TensorFlow.
I'd watch different tutorials and read blog posts
every night.
HYUNJIN SON: Shaza took it upon herself
to do all the background research necessary
and start to ask, what can this really do?
SHAZA: Plant MD works when the user takes
a picture of the plant, and it tells you what plant it is,
and whether it's healthy or diseased,
and if it is diseased, what disease it is.
SALMAN: My first question was is it
an app that's only on your phone?
And she's like, no.
Somebody has downloaded this app and using it?
That was, like, wow.
Something that-- I just was so proud.
SHAZA: I don't think you have to be a super genius
to get into coding.
Really anyone can do it with an idea and with perseverance.
I feel like open source technology
and the wealth of information on the internet
is empowering my generation.
I know that I can do anything I put my mind to,
and so can anybody else.
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