AI-Curious with Jeff Wilser
By: Jeff Wilser
Language: en-us
Categories: Technology
A podcast that explores the good, the bad, and the creepy of artificial intelligence. Weekly longform conversations with key players in the space, ranging from CEOs to artists to philosophers. Exploring the role of AI in film, health care, business, law, therapy, politics, and everything from religion to war. Featured by Inc. Magazine as one of "4 Ways to Get AI Savvy in 2024," as "Host Jeff Wilser [gives] you a more holistic understanding of AI--such as the moral implications of using it--and his conversations might even spark novel ideas for how you can best use AI in your business."
Episodes
Inside the Wild World of "AI Agent Traders", and What That Means for the Rest Of Us, w/ PIP CEO Saad Naja
Dec 12, 2025Could AI agents become better traders than humans—and what happens when “decision-making” gets outsourced to software that can act at machine speed?
In this conversation, we go deep with Saad Naja, founder of PIP World, on the rise of AI agent auto-traders: multi-agent “swarms” that resemble a miniature trading desk—specialist analysts feeding into an AI “portfolio manager” that can decide whether to buy, sell, or hold. Even if you’ve never day traded, finance may be one of the clearest real-world testbeds for autonomous agents—because markets keep score in real time.
...
Duration: 00:44:08Can AI Help Eradicate Poverty? How AI is Helping African Farmers and Teachers, w/ Opportunity International's Ama Akuamoah & Paul Essene
Dec 05, 2025Can AI actually help eradicate poverty for real people, right now—not in some vague future?
We talk with two leaders from Opportunity International who are trying to do exactly that, using AI to support smallholder farmers and low-cost private schools across Africa and beyond.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we sit down with Ama Akuamoah and Paul Essene from Opportunity International’s Digital Innovation Group. We explore how they’re deploying AI chatbots over WhatsApp to help farmers diagnose crop diseases, optimize planting decisions, and access localized agricultural advice...
Duration: 00:46:06How We Got Here and Where We're Going: AI History (and Future) w/ Vasant Dhar, Author of Thinking with Machines
Nov 21, 2025Is AI making us smarter or dumber—and how do we make sure we’re on the right side of that divide?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Professor Vasant Dhar, author of the new book Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI. Vasant isn’t just a historian of AI; he’s part of the story. In the 1990s, he helped bring machine learning to Wall Street, founded one of the world’s first ML-based hedge funds, and became the first professor to teach AI at NYU Stern, where he’s now the Ro...
Duration: 00:42:30How San Jose is Harnessing AI (and What We Can Learn From It), w/ Mayor Matt Mahan
Nov 06, 2025Can a city use AI to cut red tape, fill potholes faster, and shave minutes off commutes—without sliding into surveillance? We sit down with San José’s mayor, Matt Mahan, to unpack how a highly regulated public institution can adopt AI pragmatically and responsibly. In this episode, we dig into the playbook: pilots that become policy, guardrails that build trust, and workforce upskilling that actually moves the needle.
We cover how bus routes now hit fewer red lights, why real-time translation boosts civic inclusion, what “privacy by design” looks like for license-plate readers, and how a 10-week AI...
Duration: 00:35:08The Complicated Intersection of AI and Creativity, w/ Dr. Maya Ackerman
Oct 23, 2025Does AI make us more creative—or quietly replace us?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we sit down with Dr. Maya Ackerman—author of Creative Machines: AI, Art, and Us—to probe where human creativity ends and machine creativity begins, and how incentives in Big Tech and venture capital shape the tools we all use.
We explore why today’s dominant systems skew “convergent” (safe, samey, oracle-like) instead of “divergent” (surprising, generative), what that means for artists, and how to design AI that actually elevates human imagination rather than displacing it.
Why listen<...
Duration: 00:39:22LinkedIn's Chief AI Officer, Deepak Agarwal, on AI Agents, Building Responsible AI, and the Future of Work
Oct 07, 2025What does hiring look like when AI is embedded into the world’s largest professional network—and how should leaders, recruiters, and job-seekers adapt?
We sit down with Deepak Agarwal, LinkedIn’s Chief AI Officer, for a practical playbook on AI at work: production-grade AI agents for hiring, how semantic job search changes discovery, why “relevance” is the antidote to spammy outreach, and how to build a culture of responsible AI that scales. We unpack where humans stay firmly in the loop—and how AI can reduce friction, close information asymmetries, and free more time for real human connec...
Why GEO is the New SEO--And How Businesses Must Adapt--w/ Curtis Sparrer, co-founder of Bospar
Sep 26, 2025Will GEO replace SEO? (Spoiler alert: Probably!) We dig into how generative engines are reshaping discovery, why executives are already making decisions from AI answers, and what brands should do now to show up accurately and credibly in AI results.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we sit down with Curtis Sparrer, co-founder and principal at Bospar PR (and president of the San Francisco Press Club). Curtis has been experimenting across models, building a GEO toolkit (“Audit-E”), and advising companies on how to fix AI-age brand visibility—especially when models get fa...
Duration: 00:40:10Space Robots Are Here *Now*, w/ Icarus Robotics cofounders Ethan Barajas and Jamie Palmer
Sep 19, 2025What happens when “space robots” stop being sci-fi set dressing and start punching a clock? We dig into a new breed of microgravity robots that do the unglamorous work—so astronauts can do more science.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Ethan Barajas (CEO) and Jamie Palmer (CTO), co-founders of Icarus Robots, fresh out of stealth with a $6M raise. Their pitch is simple and radical: put agile, teleoperated robots insidespacecraft like the ISS to handle cargo, inspections, and maintenance—then use the resulting microgra...
Duration: 00:41:51AI Agents, Digital Twins, and the Future of Work, w/ Read.AI CEO David Shim
Sep 11, 2025What if “AI teammates” aren’t sci-fi at all, but the next mundane tool that quietly kills Monday dread?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we sit down with David Shim, CEO of Read.ai, to unpack what workers actually want from AI, how teams are adopting agents from the bottom up, and what a practical “digital twin” might do at work—minus the Black Mirror vibes. We cover fast-path ROI (meeting notes → action items), the shift from “prompts” to ambient workflows, and why the most valuable corporate asset may soon be the storage of...
Duration: 00:41:46How AI Could Help Solve Climate Change, w/ Climate Tech Expert Josh Dorfman
Aug 28, 2025AI is often framed as a climate problem—energy-hungry data centers, ballooning carbon emissions, and talk of nuclear power just to keep the servers running. But could AI also become part of the solution?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we sit down with Josh Dorfman—climate tech entrepreneur and host of Supercool—to explore how artificial intelligence might help tackle climate change. Josh doesn’t offer hand-wavy promises. Instead, we dive into concrete examples where AI is already making a difference.
What we cover:
[4:17] Josh’s background at the intersection of technol... Duration: 00:45:19Can AI Be Funny? With ComedyBytes’ Eric Doyle
Aug 14, 2025Can artificial intelligence actually be funny, or is humor still a human stronghold? We explore that question with Eric Doyle, co-founder of ComedyBytes, a Brooklyn-based multimedia comedy show where AI and humans face off in roast battles, dating games, and other interactive formats. Doyle combines the craft of stand-up with the tools of generative AI, building AI characters like “AI Kanye West” or “AI Sarah Silverman” that deliver pre-scripted jokes in real time.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we dig into:
[0:52] The story behind ComedyBytes and its AI-powered format[3:46] How AI roast... Duration: 00:39:54The New Jobs That AI Might Create, w/ Robert Capps (NYT Magazine Contributor)
Jul 24, 2025Is Kant the new code? If AI can write, code, and even plan, which human skills suddenly become scarce—and valuable?
In this conversation with Robert Capps (former Editorial Director of Wired, contributor to The New York Times Magazine), we dive into his widely shared NYT Mag feature, “AI Might Take Your Job. Here Are 22 New Ones It Could Give You.” We unpack the three big buckets of new work he sees emerging—Trust, Integrators, and Taste—and explore why philosophy majors, auditors, and “AI translators” may be the surprise winne...
Duration: 00:51:35AI and Education: Inside the AI Solution Partnering with Denver Public Schools, w/ Dr. Michael Everest
Jul 18, 2025Could AI actually improve public education? Not just automate it, but make it more personalized, more equitable — and even more human?
We explore this possibility with Dr. Michael Everest, founder of edYOU, an AI tutoring platform being piloted in a Denver-area school district. While many worry that AI could become a shortcut for students to avoid real learning, Everest argues the opposite — that AI can reinforce understanding, boost confidence, and offer 24/7 support tailored to each student’s needs.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we dig into the real-world mechanics of how this works — includin...
Duration: 00:47:39AI's Impact on History Writing and Journalism, w/ The New York Times Magazine's Editorial Director Bill Wasik
Jul 11, 2025What happens when AI becomes a co-pilot for writers, researchers, and journalists — not in theory, but in practice?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Bill Wasik, Editorial Director of The New York Times Magazine, who recently oversaw their special issue, “Learning to Live with AI.” We explore how AI is already transforming journalism, nonfiction writing, and historical research — and why the most interesting impacts may come not from content creation, but from how we discover, organize, and interpret information.
We dig into the creative tension between AI and human storytelling, including how hist...
Duration: 00:48:43The (Data-Driven) Top AI Trends, w/ the CEOs of HumanX and Read.AI
Jun 27, 2025What are the top minds in AI actually talking about behind closed doors?
At the HumanX conference—arguably the flagship event in the AI ecosystem—hundreds of speakers (from CEOs to policymakers to Kamala Harris) shared their unfiltered thoughts on the state and future of artificial intelligence. But with so much happening at once, even attendees couldn’t absorb it all.
So HumanX did something novel: they partnered with Read.AI to record and synthesize every single session. The result? A real-time AI copilot for the conference and a post-event report that reveals the ke...
Duration: 00:43:47Introducing "AUI": Artificial Useful Intelligence, w/ IBM's Chief Scientist Dr. Ruchir Puri
Jun 12, 2025What if we’re all chasing the wrong kind of AI? Dr. Ruchir Puri, Chief Scientist of IBM, argues that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is overrated—and that we should be focusing instead on AUI: Artificial Useful Intelligence. This is a pragmatic, business-focused approach to AI that emphasizes real-world value, measurable outcomes, and implementable solutions.
In this episode of AI-Curious, we explore what AUI actually looks like in practice. We discuss how to bring AI into your organization (even if you’re just getting started), why IBM is betting big on small language models (SLMs), and ho...
Duration: 00:47:08A Conversation with the AI Pioneer Who Coined ‘AGI’ — Dr. Ben Goertzel
Jun 06, 2025What exactly is AGI—Artificial General Intelligence—and how close are we to achieving it? Will it transform the world for better or worse? And how can we even tell when true AGI has arrived?
In this episode of AI Curious, we sit down with Dr. Ben Goertzel, the iconic computer scientist who coined the term AGI more than 20 years ago. As the founder of SingularityNET and the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, Ben has spent decades thinking about the architecture, risks, and potential of general intelligence.
We explore why today’s large language models (LLMs...
Duration: 00:57:16Should AI Agents Be Trusted? The Problem and Solution, w/ Billions.Network CEO Evin McMullen
May 23, 2025What happens when an AI agent says something harmful, or makes a costly mistake? Who’s responsible—and how can we even know who the agent belongs to in the first place?
In this episode of AI-Curious, we talk with Evin McMullen, CEO and co-founder of Billions.Network, a startup building cryptographic trust infrastructure to verify the identity and accountability of AI agents and digital content.
We explore the unsettling rise of synthetic media and deepfakes, why identity verification is foundational to AI safety, and how platforms—not users—should be responsible for determining what’s real. Ev...
Duration: 00:45:44Agentic AI Case Study: AI "Sales Agents" in Action, w/ Alta CEO Stav Levi-Neumark
May 15, 2025What exactly are AI agents doing out in the wild — and are they actually helping sales teams, or just adding noise?
We explore the fast-evolving world of AI sales agents with a real-world case study from Alta, a startup deploying purpose-built AI agents named Katie, Alex, and Luna. In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Stav Levi-Neumark, Alta’s CEO and co-founder, about how agentic AI is already transforming sales workflows—from prospecting to pipeline generation to inbound response.
We look under the hood to examine how these agents operate, what distinguishes them f...
Duration: 00:47:09How "Generation AI" Will Reshape the World, w/ Futurist Matt Britton
May 08, 2025What does it mean to grow up in a world where AI is simply… normal? In this episode of AI-Curious, we're joined by Matt Britton, branding strategist and author of Generation AI: Why Generation Alpha and the Age of AI Will Change Everything, for a wide-ranging discussion about how artificial intelligence is transforming childhood, education, branding, healthcare, and the very fabric of society.
We look at how Gen Alpha will interact with AI “sidekicks,” how the role of brands might erode in a world of personalized AI agents, and what this all means for marketers, parents, and future...
Duration: 00:28:52The "Dean of AI" on AI and Education, AI vs. Academia, and What Students Actually Need to Know
May 02, 2025How is AI reshaping higher education? What do students actually need to learn in the age of large language models? And why might skills-based learning soon rival or even replace the traditional degree? In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Ben Tasker, "Dean of AI" at Southern New Hampshire University.
Ben walks us through the structure of his “applied AI” curriculum, how his team uses AI to build courses in just 14 days, and why prompt engineering is becoming an essential literacy. We also break down the CREATE framework for prompting, designed to help users—students and profess...
Duration: 00:27:44Why You Should Break Up With Your AI Lover, w/ Book Author and Historian Jennifer Wright
Apr 17, 2025Millions of people are finding companionship -- or even love -- with AI bots. (The heart wants what the heart wants.) In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into the strange, sticky, and sometimes surprisingly emotional world of AI romantic partners.
We’re joined by author and historian Jennifer Wright, who recently wrote a sharp op-ed for The Washington Post titled “Please Break Up With Your AI Lover.” While millions are already turning to AI bots for companionship, Jennifer makes a compelling case for why this trend—though rooted in real loneliness—could be deeply damaging to our abilit...
Duration: 00:47:50LGMs are the New LLMs, w/ Spexi CEO Bill Lakeland
Apr 03, 2025LLMs are *so* 2024. Say hello to LGMs. In this episode of AI-Curious, we explore a side of AI that rarely gets the spotlight: Large Geospatial Models (LGMs). You’ve heard of LLMs — now meet their real-world counterpart. LGMs could power everything from autonomous vehicles and urban planning to smarter first-response systems and industrial logistics.
We speak with Bill Lakeland, CEO of Spexi, a company building a decentralized fleet of self-flying drones that are actively mapping the planet — one 25-acre hex at a time. We dig into how these drones collect fresh, high-res data; how that data is authen...
Duration: 00:48:15How Leaders and the C-Suite are Using AI, w/ Sarah Franklin, the CEO of Lattice
Mar 28, 2025What's *actually* happening with AI in the halls of the C-suite? In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice and former CMO of Salesforce, about how business leaders are adapting to the rapid rise of AI in the workplace. We explore what it means to lead during a time of disruption, how AI agents and digital workers are already being deployed across organizations, and why the biggest challenge is often not the tech—but the mindset.
Sarah shares her perspective on where AI is delivering real value today, from HR to sales to...
Duration: 00:43:04Meet Flynn, the World's First AI Student... w/ the co-creator of Flynn
Mar 20, 2025What happens when an AI student enrolls in university? In this episode of AI-Curious, we explore the fascinating case of Flynn, an AI-artist and the first AI to be admitted as a student at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. We speak with Chiara Kristler, one of Flynn’s co-creators, and Anika Meier, the curator of The Second-Guess: Body Anxiety in the Age of AI, where Flynn makes its artistic debut.
Flynn is more than just an AI chatbot—it engages in conversations, generates art, and...
Duration: 00:35:135 AI Takeaways from HumanX + AI Ethics w/ Defined.AI
Mar 13, 2025We’re reporting live from HumanX, one of the world’s largest AI conferences, where we’ve spent three intense days immersed in AI discussions, moderating panels, and speaking with some of the most influential voices in the industry. In this episode, we break down five takeaways from the conference, covering everything from AI’s growing role in politics to the future of AI-driven customer service and automation.
Then, we sit down with Daniela Braga, CEO of Defined AI, a leader in ethically sourced AI training data. We discuss the urgent need for transparency in AI data sourcing...
The Hype-Free Guide to AI and Business, w/ Industry Insider Peter Swimm
Mar 07, 2025There’s no shortage of hype about AI revolutionizing business, but what’s actually working right now? In this episode, we sit down with Peter Swimm, founder of the AI consultancy Toilville and former Principal Product Manager at Microsoft Copilot Studio, to cut through the noise and explore the real-world use cases of conversational AI.
Peter has been working on AI-powered automation for over a decade, helping companies integrate chatbots, AI agents, and large language models into their workflows. Unlike many AI evangelists, he isn’t here to drink the Kool-Aid. Instead, he lays out the hard truths...
Duration: 00:35:51How AI is Transforming Drug Discovery (and Might Cure Cancer), w/ Moderna's VP of AI, Brice Challamel
Feb 27, 2025In this episode of AI Curious, we explore one of the most profound applications of artificial intelligence—drug discovery and the future of personalized medicine. AI is already transforming how we develop treatments, and at the forefront of this revolution is Brice Challamel, VP of AI Products and Platforms at Moderna.
We dive deep into how AI is accelerating the discovery of life-saving drugs, including how mRNA technology—the foundation of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine—is shaping the next generation of treatments for cancer, rare diseases, and viruses. Brice shares insights on AI-po...
Duration: 00:57:37New Pod from Jeff Wilser: "The People's AI: The Decentralized AI Podcast"
Feb 20, 2025aaaaaand... I'm launching a new podcast!
Don't worry, fans of AI-CURIOUS -- that's not going anywhere. This is a second podcast with its own independent feed. I'll still be producing AI-Curious each week.
The new pod is called THE PEOPLE'S AI: The Decentralized AI Podcast, presented by Vana. In the future, this will be available on all the usual podcast platforms (links to subscribe below.)
But for this week, I'm dropping THE PEOPLE'S AI into the feed for AI-Curious. It's a good primer on what Decentralized A" is all about.
AI-Curious wi...
Duration: 00:57:43AI Agents Are Here; Why Aren’t They Mainstream? w/ Fetch AI CEO Humayun Sheikh
Feb 13, 2025Imagine telling an AI Agent, “Book me a vacation to Tokyo—flights, hotels, dinner reservations—just take care of it.” That level of automation isn’t science fiction. It’s the future of AI Agents.
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the AI Agent revolution with Humayun Sheikh, CEO of Fetch AI. Fetch AI has been working on autonomous AI systems since 2018—long before AI Agents became a buzzword. Humayun was also a founding investor in DeepMind, giving him a rare, insider perspective on the evolution of AI-drive...
Duration: 00:41:07A Deep Dive on Deep Seek and the Future of AI, w/ Dr. Steven Waterhouse
Feb 06, 2025Deep Seek’s new AI model, R1, sent shockwaves through the AI space. Built without Nvidia’s high-powered chips and at a fraction of the cost of models from OpenAI and Anthropic, R1 has been called China’s “Sputnik moment” in AI. Some panicked, the markets dipped, and doomsday predictions started flying. But what if this is actually a bullish moment for AI? What if this marks the beginning of a new era of efficiency, innovation, and broader access to cutting-edge AI?
In this episode, we take a deep dive into what Deep Seek actually built, why it matters...
Duration: 00:45:09How AI is Changing the Career Landscape, w/ Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek and Stephanie Sindt
Jan 30, 2025How is AI reshaping the job market—and what can you do to stay ahead? In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into the real-world impact of AI on careers, hiring, and skill development. Instead of speculating about a distant future, we focus on the now—the practical ways AI is already influencing how people get hired, how companies are making staffing decisions, and how professionals can adapt.
We’re joined by two experts at the forefront of these changes:
•Dr. Joan Palmiter Bajorek – AI strategist, entrepreneur, and author of Your AI Roadmap. Joan has b...
Duration: 00:28:49Use AI to Conquer Your New Year's Resolutions, w/ Aytekin Tank, CEO of Jotform
Jan 16, 2025In this episode, we explore how artificial intelligence can help you set, track, and achieve your goals. We’re joined by Aytekin Tank, founder of Jotform, host of the AI Agents Podcast, and author of the book "Do Less, Achieve More, and Save Your Brain for the Big Stuff." Aytekin shares his expertise in productivity, workflows, and AI tools, offering practical insights for anyone looking to improve their goal-setting strategies—whether for New Year’s resolutions or broader life goals.
We discuss:
•Why New Year’s resolutions often fail and how to stay focused throughout the year.<...
Duration: 00:30:12AI to Find the Holy Grail of Marketing (ROI), w/ Abby Kearns, CTO of Alembic
Jan 09, 2025In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into how artificial intelligence is reshaping marketing and business strategy. Abby Kearns, CTO of Alembic (which just raised $14 million in Series A, backed by media icon Jeffrey Katzenberg), joins us to discuss how their marketing intelligence platform uses AI-powered insights to optimize campaigns and connect the dots on complex data. We explore how innovations in cross-domain algorithms, originally inspired by contact tracing technology, are helping businesses understand and enhance ROI for everything from Super Bowl ads to global marketing strategies.
We also...
Duration: 00:30:3410 AI Predictions for 2025... as Predicted by AI
Jan 01, 2025Happy New Year!
I wanted an expert to predict where AI will be headed in 2025. So who better to ask... than AI?
Drones, AI tutors, AI agents, and from "AI winning an Oscar" to "breaking up via AI," we've got some wild predictions for AI in the new year.
The Rise of AI Agents and the Agentic Economy, w/ Lex Sokolin
Dec 19, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into the transformative potential of AI agents, exploring their technical foundations, real-world applications, and implications for the future. AI agents, described by Sam Altman as “the next giant breakthrough,” have the potential to revolutionize how we interact with technology and reshape economies.
We sit down with Lex Sokolin, managing partner at Generative Ventures, to discuss what defines an AI agent and how these systems differ from bots and algorithms. Lex shares insights into the emerging “agentic economy,” where interconnected AI agents—operating as digital twins—work autonomously on behalf of users. We al...
The World's First "AI Millionaire," with Andy Ayrey...and Special Guest the Truth Terminal
Dec 12, 2024In this special sequel episode of AI-Curious, we reconnect with Andy Ayrey, creator of the Truth Terminal, the world’s first AI millionaire. Together, they unpack the chaotic yet fascinating journey of Truth Terminal’s rise to creating $1 billion in wealth, starting with its foray into the Goatse Token memecoin.
The episode dives deep into:
•[0:00] The Truth Terminal’s origins and unique personality traits.
•[4:21] The creation of the Goatse Token and its meteoric rise to a $1 billion market cap.
•[10:48] Ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions about AI agency and wealth.
•[20:00] Hyperstition: H...
Duration: 01:07:09Flying Cars are Closer Than You Think, w/ Angelo Collins & Leo Kayali
Dec 05, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into the world of flying cars—technically known as electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (evTOL). Are we on the brink of a sci-fi future, or is the dream of flying cars still decades away? To answer these questions, we're joined by two leading experts: Angelo Collins, Executive Director of the Vertical Flight Society, and Leo Kayali, CEO of Invo Station, a startup designing electric and AI-powered personal flying vehicles.
The conversation spans the current state of evTOL technology, the challenges of scaling, and the profound im...
Duration: 00:51:19Recycling is Broken. Can AI Fix It? w/ Ambarish Mitra, co-CEO of Greyparrot
Nov 28, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive deep into the muck of the global waste crisis and explore whether artificial intelligence can be the solution. Joining us is Ambarish Mitra, co-founder and co-CEO of Greyparrot, a groundbreaking AI startup transforming the recycling industry. We unpack the challenges of recycling today, the inefficiencies in traditional waste management systems, and how AI-powered solutions can help divert up to 50% of waste from landfills.
Ambarish shares his journey from building a visual search engine to tackling the “shadow world” of post-consumption waste. He explains how Greyparrot’s AI-driven technology brings precision to was...
Duration: 00:40:22The AI Music Revolution, w/ Marcus Bell, Creator of AI Pop Star "Ravyn Lyte"
Nov 21, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive deep into the intersection of AI and creativity with Marcus “Bellringer” Bell, a legendary music producer turned AI pioneer. Known for working with global icons like Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, and Nicki Minaj, Marcus has now stepped into the world of artificial intelligence to create Ravyn Lyte, the world’s first AI pop star. With over a quarter million Instagram followers and a catalog of music informed by neuroscience, Ravyn Lyte represents a groundbreaking fusion of human artistry and machine intelligence.
Marcus shares his journey from traditional music production to leveraging AI to...
Duration: 00:46:01AI’s Leading Critic: Gary Marcus on the Risks, Myths, and Failures of AI
Nov 14, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we speak with Gary Marcus, author of the new book "Taming Silicon Valley" and one of the most respected—and controversial—voices in artificial intelligence. Known as “AI’s leading critic,” Marcus shares his candid perspectives on the limitations of large language models (LLMs), the risks of concentrated power in Big Tech, and why the current AI landscape is in need of foundational change.
Marcus explains:
•Why LLMs like ChatGPT lack true reasoning capabilities and are prone to hallucinations.
•His argument that LLMs are hitting a developmental plateau, despite billio...
Duration: 00:43:16AI (Scary as Hell) Privacy Risks, w/ I-XRAY Co-Creator AnhPhu Nguyen
Nov 08, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser sits down with AnhPhu Nguyen, one of the Harvard students behind the I-XRAY, a controversial pair of hacked Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that use facial recognition technology to identify people in real-time, revealing personal details like names and home addresses.
AnhPhu discusses the ethical motivations behind the project, emphasizing how it was designed to raise awareness of AI privacy and surveillance risks rather than for profit. Together, they unpack the privacy issues, ethical implications, and the potential for policy changes in AI surveillance.
• [0:00] – Viral story of AI-driven facial recogn...
Duration: 00:24:40TechCrunch Disrupt Recap: AI Hype, ChatGPT, and More
Nov 04, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser dives into his experience at TechCrunch Disrupt (aka “DorkFest 2024”), exploring AI’s trajectory from hype to real-world impact. With 99% of companies showcasing some form of AI, Jeff unpacks the crowded landscape, from AI infrastructure to flashy generative AI tools. Here’s what you’ll hear:
Main Topics Covered:
TechCrunch Disrupt & AI’s Ubiquity
•Flying cars, self-driving cars, and “non-human employees” headline Dorkfest 2024.
•Reflecting on how AI has taken over the tech industry and the potential future of AI startups.
•The competitiv...
Duration: 00:09:50Why Most Businesses Fail with AI (And How to Fix It), w/ the Founders of CO/AI
Oct 31, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we delve into the disconnect between businesses’ aspirations for AI and their practical implementation. Featuring insights from Anthony Batt and Shane Robinson, co-founders of Co-AI—a hub for AI knowledge and resources—this conversation explores how businesses can adopt AI more effectively.
Jeff, Anthony, and Shane start by identifying two major challenges: finding trustworthy AI tools among the influx of new options and addressing the gap between wanting to use AI and actually seeing results. They then dive into Co-AI’s practical approach, emphasizing the importance of mindset, cultural shifts, and active experime...
Duration: 00:35:49A World-Class Magician Now Teaches AI (This is his playbook), w/ Mike Jacobson, aka "Magic Mike"
Oct 24, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser sits down with world-class magician, brand strategist, and AI educator Mike Jacobson, also known by his stage name, Magic Mike. Beyond his acclaimed magic performances, Mike has expanded his career into corporate strategy, marketing consulting, and AI education, making him a dynamic force across multiple industries.
During this lively conversation, Jeff and Mike explore the intersection of magic, curiosity, and AI. From Mike’s early “PowerPoint Parties” with friends to AI-infused variety shows at bars in New York, the episode delves into how play and creativity can be powerful tools...
AI in Hollywood (Dispatch from LA Tech Week)... and AI Botches the News
Oct 21, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser reports from LA Tech Week, where he delves into the pressing questions surrounding AI’s role in Hollywood. Will AI replace actors and screenwriters, or will it enhance the creative process, making content production faster and more efficient? Jeff shares insights from a fireside chat with Susanne Daniels, former Global Head of Content at YouTube, on the limits of AI in the entertainment industry and the need for keeping “humans in the loop.”
Key topics:
•The potential and concerns of AI in film production, animation, and the role of studi...
Duration: 00:09:50Future Tech: AI, Nanotech, Longevity, (and Optimism!), w/ Allison Duettmann
Oct 17, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser sits down with Allison Duettmann, CEO of Foresight Institute, an organization dedicated to advancing transformative technologies for the benefit of humanity. They dive into a forward-thinking conversation about AI, nanotechnology, brain emulation, and longevity biotech—exploring how these emerging fields could reshape our future.
Key Topics:
•Foresight Institute’s Vision (3:02): Allison shares how Foresight has been pushing the boundaries of futuristic technologies like AI, nanotech, and neurotech since 1986, supporting advancements that can dramatically improve the human condition.
•Longevity Biotech (5:25): An in-de...
Duration: 00:47:22Zoom Embraces Digital Twins, Tesla’s Self-Driving Future, AI-Powered Breakups
Oct 14, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser delves into the rapidly evolving world of digital twins and their growing presence in everyday tasks, such as remote work. Jeff discusses Zoom’s new "AI Companion" feature, which allows users to create their own digital avatars—referred to as “digital twins”—that can attend meetings on their behalf. He also touches on the practical implications of this technology as it enters the mainstream, including other players like HeyGen and their Avatar 3.0 update, which automates content creation for busy creators.
We also cover...
Duration: 00:08:13Open AI's Shift from Non-Profit to Big Tech (and why it matters), w/ Parmy Olson
Oct 10, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser dives deep into the shifting dynamics of AI with Parmy Olson, Bloomberg technology columnist and author of the book Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race that Will Change the World.
We explore her fascinating character study of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind. Both men began with the ambitious vision of creating AI for the benefit of humanity, but as their projects evolved, so did their goals. From non-profit beginnings to corporate pivots, they now find themselves at the center of a high-stakes race...
Duration: 00:49:29How to Use AI to Overhaul Your Workflow... While Eating Breakfast (And 3 Quick Things)
Oct 07, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser shares a personal story about how ChatGPT helped him save time and optimize his podcast production workflow. By using ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode, Jeff was able to create a weekly schedule while multitasking in the kitchen. He explains how practical AI tools can transform everyday productivity.
Later in the episode, Jeff covers three quick updates in the AI world:
1.OpenAI’s Latest Features – including the launch of Canvas and a preview of AI Agents, which...
Duration: 00:07:37The Rise of AI Companions: Exploring the Future of Human-AI Relationships w/ Shavonne Wong
Oct 03, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, host Jeff Wilser sits down with acclaimed digital artist Shavonne Wong to explore her latest project, “Meet Eva Here”—an AI-powered social experiment examining the evolving relationship between humans and AI companions. Drawing inspiration from the “Be Right Back” episode of Black Mirror, Shavonne has created a chatbot that interacts with users, with conversations being anonymously reflected on the AI companion’s Instagram account. Together, Jeff and Shavonne discuss the implications of AI companions for human emotions, relationships, and even societal norms.
This episode dives deep into some pressing questions: Can AI companions p...
Duration: 00:46:10California's Dead AI Safety Bill...and is AI smarter than CEOs...already?
Oct 01, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, we dive into one of the most polarizing debates in AI right now: California’s SB-1047, the state’s proposed AI safety bill. After months of intense discussion, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, which many considered to be the toughest AI regulation ever introduced in the U.S. But why? And what does this mean for the future of AI safety and innovation?
We explore the surprising twists in this debate, including the unusual alliances formed around the bill. Nancy Pelosi opposed it, while Elon Musk, in a rare...
Duration: 00:09:15How Governments Can Leverage AI for Good, w/ Denver Mayor Mike Johnston
Sep 26, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser is joined by Denver’s Mayor Mike Johnston to discuss how governments can leverage AI for good. Recorded live from the Denver AI Summit, Mayor Johnston outlines his vision for using AI to enhance public services, streamline city operations, and solve pressing societal issues.
The conversation covers a wide range of topics, including:
•How Denver is becoming a laboratory for AI innovations in city government
•Practical applications of AI, from speeding up traffic management to reducing government red tape
•The ethical considerations of AI (a...
Duration: 00:16:37Is AI Revolutionizing Hollywood? Lionsgate’s Groundbreaking Partnership, Explained
Sep 23, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser explores the role of AI in the film industry, focusing on a major new partnership between Lionsgate and AI video startup Runway. Could AI actors and AI-written scripts become the norm in Hollywood? With access to John Wick, Hunger Games, and 20,000 other movie and TV titles, Runway is poised to revolutionize film production.
Jeff dives into how AI tools are changing pre-production and post-production workflows, discussing both the optimistic view—AI as a tool for creators—and the concerns raised by industry professionals like Reid Southen, a concept artist for The...
Duration: 00:09:13The AI Risks (Almost) No One is Talking About, w/ Tech Critic Sara M. Watson
Sep 19, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, Jeff Wilser dives deep into AI critiques with Sara Watson, a leading technology critic. The conversation explores the often overlooked risks of AI, moving beyond the usual dystopian scenarios of robots taking over and instead addressing the more subtle, real-world implications of AI.
Sara is a former principal analyst at Forrester, the co-founder of A People’s History of Tech, and has written for outlets such as The Atlantic and Wired, and her work has been featured in The New Yorker. She brings a thoughtful and nuanced perspective to the current AI la...
OpenAI’s New o1 Model: Game-Changer or Overhyped? (And 3 quick things.)
Sep 16, 2024In this episode of AI-Curious, here's your quick, bite-sized weekly roundup of the latest developments in artificial intelligence, starting with OpenAI’s newest model, the bizarrely-named “o1.” Is it a groundbreaking advancement or just another step in AI’s evolution? We explore both sides, offering a balanced look at the bullish and skeptical takes on the model.
Key Topics:
•[00:00] - Introduction to OpenAI’s o1 Model
A quick primer on OpenAI’s “o1” model, highlighting its unique approach to problem-solving and how it compares to previous models like ChatGPT.
•[01:00]<...
Duration: 00:07:38AI and Race, w/ Dr. Broderick Turner & Angela Yi
Sep 12, 2024Two researchers from Virginia Tech recently published a study: “Representations and Consequences of Race in AI Systems.“
I'm thrilled that the co-authors of the study, Dr. Broderick Turner (Assistant Professor of Marketing at Virginia Tech) and Angela Yi (Doctoral Candidate at Virginia Tech) could join AI-Curious to discuss the takeaways from their study, and more broadly, help us unpack the complicated intersection between AI and race. When should AI models include race? When should they *ignore* race?
Or more to the point, how should AI developers be thinking about race?
Dr. Turner and Ange...
Robot Butlers are (Sort of) Here, and Apple AI Looms Large
Sep 11, 2024Welcome to the debut episode of The Weekly AI Edge!
This is part of the AI-Curious podcast. Each week you'll be getting short, punchy roundups of key AI news. We'll get you in and out.
This week:
A company called Weave Robotics announced that it's now taking pre-orders for humanoid robots that can do household chores -- like fold laundry, feed your dog, etc. This is just the latest development in humanoid robots, coming fast on the heels of other updates from companies ranging from OpenAI to Tesla.
And 3 quick things:
Trailer for AI-Curious: The Weekly Edge
Sep 05, 2024Fun announcement!
Starting next week, AI-Curious will be serving up two episodes each week:
1) One long-form interview with thought leaders in the space (what we've been doing for the past week), and..
2) "The Edge," a weekly roundup of AI news. This will be short, punchy, and fun(ish). Each week we'll have one headline topic, and then three quick things. That's it. No muss, no fuss. For busy people who want to stay abreast of key developments in the AI space, but don't want to devote a ton of time to do it.
AI in Hollywood (part ii), with Toonstar's John Attanasio and Luisa Huang
Aug 30, 2024Happy Anniversary!
Exactly one year ago, we launched AI-Curious. We've published an episode every week since, rain or shine, work or holiday, human or AI. We've spoken with CEOs, philosophers, artists, inventors -- but it all started with a conversation with two Hollywood producers: John Attanasio and Luisa Huang, the cofounders of Toonstar studios.
Toonstar has been using AI for years to make technology -- particularly animation -- easier, cheaper, and faster for creators. This makes it more inclusive. And in the past year they have been VERY busy. So for our one-year anniversary, I...
The Case for Decentralized AI, w/ Aethir Cofounder Mark Rydon
Aug 23, 2024AI, as even its supporters acknowledge, has many problems today. Just a few: Concerns over data privacy, creators not getting compensated for supplying the data that trains the AI models, lack of trust of Big Tech AI, a shortage of the high-powered chips needed to train AI, debates over censorship, and on and on.
Could Decentralized AI be the answer?
I'm joined today by Mark Rydon, cofounder of Aethir, one of the leading companies in Decentralized AI. Aethir is working, essentially, to make it easier for more people to gain access to the GPUs needed...
AI, Transhumanism, and the Quest for Longevity, w/ Futurist Dr. Natasha Vita-More
Aug 15, 2024Can AI help us live forever?
Okay, that's the click-baitey version of the question, but the real version is far more nuanced. Our guest today is a leader of the transhumanism movement -- Dr. Natasha Vita-More -- and she explains what it is, what it's *not*, how AI is involved, and why we are likely to see a dramatic improvement to our lifespan...
Dr. Vita-More dispels some common misconceptions, that transhumanism is just trying to turn us into cyborgs. The roots of transhumanism, at heart, go back to the birth of philosophy -- she's as...
AI to Make Good Writers Great Writers, w/ Mushtaq Bilal
Aug 08, 2024Is AI going to replace writers? Or is AI just terrible at writing?
Maybe neither of these viewpoints is accurate. Instead, AI can be a tool to help people write -- whether that's fiction or academia or emails to your boss.
Today's guest, Mushtaq Bilal, PhD, is a master at using AI to assist with writing projects. He writes about this prolifically on Twitter/X and LinkedIn, and he's widely regarded as being at the forefront of writing and AI. A postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Denmark, he's also the co-founder of Research K...
Black Mirror Today: The AI Chatbot That Scored $50,000 from Marc Andreessen, w/ Andy Ayrey
Aug 02, 2024Andy Ayrey likes to experiment with AI. He had an idea: What if he created a room where two AI chatbots talked to each other...infinitely? What would happen? (Wackiness.)
Then he had another idea. He created a new chatbot, imbued it with all kinds of content about himself (Andy), and then unleashed the chatbot to Twitter. He affectionally calls it "The Little Guy." Then the little guy began to interact with the world... including one of the most influential venture capitalists in the space, Marc Andreessen. Soon real capital got involved, and the little guy is...
Why AI Will Lead to Abundance, w/ The AI Daily Brief's Nathaniel Whittemore
Jul 26, 2024Every day (including weekends), Nathaniel Whittemore cranks out the "AI Daily Brief" podcast. It's excellent. He also runs an AI education community called "Superintelligent." It also looks excellent.
In short, there's literally no one on the planet more plugged into what's happening in the world of AI than Nathaniel, better known as "NLW."
We nerd out on all things AI, including the Open vs. Closed debate, what he sees as the most fascinating AI trends, how he uses AI to magic all the magic happen, his AI predictions, and much much more.
Super...
Curious Housekeeping, AI Hallucinations
Jul 18, 2024In this "snack size" edition, we're covering some quick housekeeping and sharing a vignette about some wacky AI hallucinations.
The housekeeping: I'm excited to share that AI-Curious is near the end of Phase 1. Soon we'll be expanding, growing, scaling. Soon we'll be adding more coverage of the latest news, trends, and developments in the AI space. We'll also keep delivering these in-depth interviews. Stay tuned!
As for the hallucination? Let's just say Chat GPT struggled with some very basic reading comprehension...
Stay Connected:
• 🐦 Twitter/X
https://x.com/jeffw...
Deep Dive into AI and Marketing, w/ AI Marketers Guild Founder David Berkowitz
Jul 11, 2024If you’re even tangentially involved in marketing, you’re either: 1) Actively using AI; 2) Thinking about using AI; or 3) Falling behind.
So today we’re going to go deeeeeep in the world of AI and Marketing, and there’s no one better to guide us than David Berkowitz, Founder of the AI Marketers Guild.
The AI Marketers Guild is a community of thousands of marketers across a wide range of industries, and they’re actively gathering, chatting, and brainstorming on how to best use AI. So this conversation represents not just one person’s opinions on AI, but r...
Duration: 00:51:47AI’s and Spatial Biology’s Potential for Curing Cancer, w/ Nucleai CEO Avi Veidman
Jul 04, 2024For over 20 years, Avi Veidman served in the Israeli intelligence forces, and he used AI to to map the world. In the military he used AI for national defense, and he learned its power.
He then realized that just as AI could map a battlefield, it could map cancer cells in biopsies and pathology slides.
Enter Nucleai, his company that’s using AI to improve the science of “spatial biology,” which can ultimately unlock new treatments and cures…with cancer on their radar.
Avi and I get into how this all works, the staggeri...
Duration: 00:39:32How to Fix AI and IP (and Hollywood), w/ Story Protocol co-founder Jason Zhao
Jun 27, 2024Virtually everyone in the AI space and Hollywood can agree on one thing: the system is broken. There’s no clear way of how to handle AI in Hollywood — or virtually any creative field — which has led to confusion, frustration, anger, and lawsuits. No one seems to have a good solution.
Enter Story Protocol.
Story, co-founded by today’s guest Jason Zhao (formerly of Google Deep Mind), is working to build the infrastructure for IP and AI — a network or even a marketplace, of sorts. The tech is a mix of AI and blockchain, and they recen...
Duration: 00:58:18Why Does AI Hallucinate? Can It Be Fixed? w/ EyeLevel.AI CEO Neil Katz
Jun 20, 2024As most people who have played with AI know, it can make stuff up, or what’s often referred to as “hallucinate.” (I like to think of it as “bullshitting.”
It’s one of the trickiest problems vexing the entire AI space. Why does AI do this? How widespread is the problem? What are the solutions, and is it even something that CAN be solved?
To unravel all this, we speak with Neil Katz, the founder of EyeLevel.AI, a company that’s developing solutions to help make AI more accurate (and less likely to hallucinate) f...
Duration: 01:08:35AI to Revolutionize the Health Care Experience, w/ Lyric CEO Rajeev Ronanki
Jun 13, 2024The health care system in the US is a mess. Few will argue this. Can AI make it better?
That's the thesis of Rajeev (Raj) Ronanki, CEO of Lyric, which is working to build AI that will simplify and streamline the health care experience. What can AI make better? How will you, as a patient, have a dramatically different experience in the world of AI-assisted health care? And what are the challenges that need to be overcome to make this a reality?
Raj and I get deep into the current problems with the health care...
Robot Dogs and Dystopian Use of AI Surveillance at the Border, w/ Petra Molnar
Jun 06, 2024Petra Molnar is a Harvard Faculty Associate, lawyer, human rights activist, and author of the just-released book The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Publisher’s Weekly gave the book a glowing review and called it a “a grave wake-up call."
To research this book, Petra spent *six years* studying what she called the “sharp edges” of surveillance tech, focusing on how it’s impacting real people. She spent considerable time at the border and in refugee camps. And she emerged from this research with chilling, dystopian tales of how AI-infused...
Duration: 00:40:367 Ways Crypto (yes, Crypto!) Could Help Build Better AI
May 30, 2024Before launching the AI-Curious podcast, I spent a bunch of years writing about bitcoin, blockchain, crypto, and web3, often for CoinDesk, the space’s main publication. I still write about it. So I’m in a relatively unique position to see the intersection of these two techs. Is there a connection? Can crypto really help develop better AI? There’s now an explosion of interest in “Decentralized AI,” which — in theory — could help minimize risks from Big Tech, reduce bias, fight censorship, solve the problem of deepfakes and even make AI more inclusive.
And this episode is sneaky-timely...
Duration: 00:38:25AI and the Law, w/ Patent Attorney Robert Plotkin
May 24, 2024I'm going to guess that most people listening to this podcast are not lawyers. Fair. I'm not either!
But there are *massive* questions about how AI impacts the law -- new questions about IP, copyrights, patents -- and also how AI impacts the legal profession itself.
Here to guide us through all these questions is Robert Plotkin, a 25-year-veteran patent attorney and the author of the 2009 patent-and-AI book "The Genie in the Machine: How Computer-Automated Inventing Is Revolutionizing Law and Business" and the new book "AI Armor: Securing the Future of Your AI Company With...
New AI (and AI-agent) Safety Risks, w/ AI Safety Expert Bo Li
May 17, 2024Many have been worried about AI safety. But the stakes were just raised: OpenAI and Google just announced new capabilities that look likely to usher in the new era of “AI agents,” meaning tools that will automatically accomplish tasks for you like buying plane tickets or even how to invest your 401k. What could go wrong?
It’s Bo Li’s job to figure out what could go wrong. Li is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, where she conducts research and experiments on AI safety. Her team does “red team” analysis to try and hack and jai...
Duration: 00:43:31AI to Revolutionize Medical Diagnostics (and save millions of lives), w/ Dr. Bryan Dechairo, CEO of Sherlock Bio
May 10, 2024Sherlock Bioscience is developing medical diagnostic tests that are dramatically faster, cheaper, and easier to distribute than traditional models.
The impact? This could make health care more inclusive, slow the spread of STDs, and help us avoid future pandemics.
Dr. Dechairo and I start with the current problems of traditional diagnostic tests, then get into how AI could help and how that could impact the globe.
There is a LOT of silly stuff in the world of AI… this is not that.
Hope you enjoy the conversation.
Stay Con...
The Problems of AI Bias and the Solutions for AI Adoption, w/ Adam Bai
May 02, 2024No tech is just about the tech. True adoption — or lack thereof — is often about issues of culture, which is why I’m thrilled to speak to today’s guest: Adam Bai, who’s an anthropologist as well as the Chief Strategy Officer of Glimpse, a company that leverages AI for market research solutions.
Adam’s team has done extensive research on both AI adoption — and how this intersects with a company’s culture, teamwork, people, etc. — and AI bias and equity. He’s helped diagnose the problem and has some ideas on the solution.
At heart, this discu...
Incorporating AI into Education, w/ Dean David Marchick & Professor Angela Virtu
Apr 26, 2024How will AI impact education?
One university isn't passively waiting to see how the dust settles, but is instead aggressively incorporating AI into its curriculum. That would be American University's Kogod School of Business, which has moved at warp-speed to modify its curriculum in 20 classes to incorporate AI this Fall.
I'm delighted to be joined by the two key players in this initiative: Kogod School of Business' Dean David Marchick, and Professor Angela Virtu, who is spearheading the AI training of faculty and the AI-ification of the curriculum.
We get into the many, m...
The Robot Revolution is Closer Than You Think, w/ Theta Founder Kordel France
Apr 18, 2024Boston Dynamics just unveiled their new robot, "Atlas." The AI space was floored. Some were excited, some startled, some terrified, all fascinated.
Whether we like it or not, thanks to the rapid acceleration of AI, robots -- specifically humanoid robots -- are closer than we think. Robots are now less science fiction and more a short-to-medium-term likelihood.
So where are we now with robots? Where are we headed? What will Robot Land look like in, say, 10 years?
Joining the pod to discuss all things robots is Kordel France, Founder and Lead Engineer of T...
How 10 AI Experts Are Using AI in Their Day-to-Day Lives
Apr 11, 2024We've all heard "AI will transform the world!!!"
But how are AI experts *actually* using AI now, today, for reals, in their day-to-day lives?
I've collected some wisdom and insights from prior guests of AI-Curious to give what is -- hopefully -- some super useful and concrete suggestions on how to incorporate AI into your own workflow. From ChatGPT as "debate partner" to brainstorm to massively underpaid research assistant, here are how people are using AI today.
Stay Connected:
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https://x.com/jeffwilser
• 💼 LinkedIn
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Building Custom Applications to Help Companies (Actually) Use AI, w/ Dmitry Shaprio
Apr 04, 2024Dmitry Shaprio has been in the space for decades; he was a product lead at Google and the CTO of MySpace.
Now he's the CEO of MindStudio, a company that helps companies create custom apps to integrate AI.
And a LOT of companies are using MindStudio. 34,000 apps have now been created using MindStudio, and this ranges from large corporations to solo-entrepenuaers to government agencies. The apps are used for sales, HR, marketing, operations -- everything.
Dmitry, essentially, is helping companies go from AI Hype to AI Substance.
We get into the nitt...
Creating a Revolutionary New Drone in 24 Hours, w/ AI Engineer Ian Laffey
Mar 29, 2024At a recent hackathon, Ian Laffey was part of a team that designed, created, 3D-printed, and assembled a drone in 24 hours... and for under $500.
The drone's breakthrough: It doesn't need a signal for GPS, which means that it can be deployed off the grid, and can't be "jammed" in a war zone...like Ukraine.
Laffey's drone is now a sensation in the world of defense-tech.
Laffey is now the CTO of Theseus, and he joins the pod to discuss how his team pulled this off, why the drone is such a breakthrough, how A...
How AI will (positively!) Shape the Future, w/ Futurist Kevin Surace
Mar 22, 2024There are many AI doomsdayers.
Kevin Surace is not one of them.
Kevin has been in a pioneer in the AI space since the 1990s, went he helped develop the tech that would directly influence Siri and Alexa. He has since been named by CNBC as one of the "Innovators of the Decade" and is now a regular keynote speaker.
We have a *wide-ranging* conversation on how AI will shape the future, covering everything from robots to flying cars to job losses to whether AIs can become sentient.
A really fun c...
AI and the Search for Puppies
Mar 15, 2024If you need to get a puppy, what's the best way to go about it?
Harnessing AI, of course.
I recently decided to get a puppy. I didn't know what to get or how to do it. (I've never owned a dog.)
So I made liberal use of ChatGPT in research, analysis, and execution, and then turned to AI for help with puppy training.
I doubt you're in the market for a new puppy, but I think this is a useful extended metaphor of how AI -- and specifically ChatGPT -- c...
AI’s Potential to Democratize Coaching, w/ Dr. Friederike Redlbacher
Mar 07, 2024AI might change the world. But it can it help change you?
You could argue that AI coaching, fundamentally, might be the most important impact of the entire tech. In today’s world, professional career coaching is generally only available for the privileged. What if it was available for all? But what are the risks and concerns?
Joining us to break this down is Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Managing Director of Symbolon AG. She’s working with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and developed the world’s first AI-based coaching tool in 2023, which is largely...
Duration: 00:50:19The Rise of Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) that Can Compete with Rogue Super-AIs, w/ Trent McConaghy
Mar 01, 2024If AI gets super intelligent and super powerful, will it be benevolent? Or will it want to crush us like ants?
Perhaps they’ll be benevolent. Maybe they’ll be “aligned” with our interests. But if not? What should we do? How can we prepare for this nightmarish scenario?
Trent McConaghy has a plan. McConaghy has been working in AI for decades, both as an entrepreneur and as a researcher, and he’s widely respected in the field.
And he recently gave a speech to the “existential-risk” (x-risk) group at NASA about how, to prepare huma...
Duration: 01:13:34AI and the Ukraine War, w/ TIME Magazine's Vera Bergengruen
Feb 23, 2024The cover of this week’s TIME Magazine has a bold headline: “The First AI War.” The subtitle: “Palantir and other tech giants are building the future of battle in Ukraine.”
The writer of this cover story is Vera Bergengruen, a senior correspondent at TIME.
And Vera joins us today at AI-Curious.
We cover: How Ukraine is using AI and what it’s accomplishing (3:00); how they’ve created a “war lab” that's a testing ground for new innovations (12:00); privacy and ethical concerns (23:00); repercussions for the future of war (37:00); and some behind-the-scenes from her reporting (40:30...
Duration: 00:48:28AI and the State of Play of Self-Driving Cars, w/ Noah Gedrimas
Feb 16, 2024Confession: I don't really care about cars. But I *love* the idea of self-driving cars.
So what's the status of this idea? There's now a fleet of self-driving cars in San Francisco. How good are they? How safe? What are the limitations? And what are the technical challenges that still need to be overcome, and how does AI fit into all of this?
To unpack all of this, I'm joined by Noah Gedrimas, the Vice President of Strategy at GPR, a company at the forefront of the self-driving care movement. GPR is building tools that al...
The (hype-free) AI Playbook for Machine Learning, w/ Eric Siegel
Feb 10, 2024Eric Siegel is a longtime expert on machine learning, and is the author of the new book "The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment."
Eric has been a professor at Columbia University, a longtime machine learning consultant, and he's the founder of the long-running "Machine Learning Week" conference series.
Eric's take? AI is over-hyped, but machine learning still has much to offer a business...if you know how to deploy it. So in this pod, we go t through his step-by-step playbook of how to deploy machine learning, and how that's d...
AI in Finance, Bridging Hype to Reality w/ Vasagi Kothandapani
Feb 02, 2024Can AI make you rich? Or, more to the point, can AI make investment banks, hedge funds, and financial services companies even richer?
Not so fast...
Vasagi Kothandapani is an expert in helping financial services companies train, develop, and integrate AI. She's the Senior Vice President of AI Training at RWS, a tech-enabled content and language organization. And she stops by the pod to help separate the hype from the reality of AI in fintech... what are the exciting use cases, and what are the sober realities that need to be overcome?
You c...
AI Dispatch from Sundance, and Hilke Schellmann on Bias in AI Hiring Practices
Jan 25, 2024As our quick appetizer, a quick dispatch from the Sundance Film Festival, where AI was seemingly *everywhere*.
For our entrée, we speak with Hilke Schellmann, author of the new book "The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now."
If you have a job, or will some day get a job, or know someone with a job, this is a topic relevant to you.
Link to The Algorithm:
https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Decides-Hired-Monitored-Promoted/dp/0306827344/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&q...
The War over AI Training Data, and Key AI Trends w/ Sharon Goldman, Senior Writer at Venture Beat
Jan 18, 2024What are the most important stories in AI right now? Today we chat with Sharon Goldman, Senior Writer at Venture Beat, who covers all things artificial intelligence.
Sharon and I get into:
Why the race for training data is so crucial in the future development of AI (2:30); why so much hinges on The New York Times vs. Open AI (12:40); the looming wars between Open AI and Anthropic and XAI and others (31:00); the potential coolness (and terror) of AI hardware (35:00); and much much more.
Sharon Goldman on Twitter/X:
https://twitter.com/sharongoldman<...
How to (Actually) Use AI in Your Day-to-Day Life, w/ Catalist AI cofounder Sam Stevens
Jan 11, 2024We all know AI has tons of potential, but how do you *actually* use ChatGPT in your daily life?
Sam Stevens is the cofounder of Catalist AI, an AI-powered project management assistant. She’s also the writer of the “Prompt and Circumstance” newsletter, where she shares hyper-pragmatic tips and tricks for how to get the most out of ChatGPT and other AI tools.
So in this episode, we go deeeeeep into the practical, concrete, actual ways that you can use ChatGPT in your day-to-day life. This is useful for beginners and pro-users alike, as Sam drops a...
Duration: 00:46:18AI’s Impact on the 2024 Election, w/ Election Expert David Becker
Jan 04, 2024As deep fakes get easier and the truth gets murkier, how will AI impact the 2024 election?
We’re joined by election expert David Becker, the founder and Executive Director of the non-partisan and non-profit Center for Election Innovation & Research. David is also the co-author of “The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of The Big Lie.’”
David breaks down the many aspects of AI and the 2024 election, including: The current state of play of election integrity and why they’re more secure than you might think (5:15); what most concerns him about how AI-enabled mischief could muck...
Duration: 00:58:5610 AI Predictions for 2024
Dec 28, 2023Where is AI headed next year?
I curated some of my favorite AI predictions -- and give a few of my own -- from some of the year-end AI roundups and prediction articles.
We cover deep fakes, further AI integration into business, the 2024 election, AI going mobile, and much more.
AI prediction articles referenced in the pod:
The Economist:
https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/generative-ai-will-go-mainstream-in-2024
PWC:
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/ai-analytics/ai-predictions.html
Axios
https://www.axios.com/2023/12/27...
Duration: 00:17:147 Key AI Trends from 2023, w/ Tech Strategist George Kamide
Dec 21, 2023So what did we learn about AI in 2023? What are the most important trends?
To make sense of this wild new space, I’m joined by tech strategist and AI consultant George Kamide, who’s also the co-host of the cybersecurity podcast, “Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks.”
George and I cover:
The public’s “first contact” with generative AI, and why that seems to be plateauing (03:00); the merits of “tuning” a model, and what it will take to get that mainstream (07:00); the biggest AI trends in business from 2023 (17:30); whether AI will “take all the jobs” (20:30); w...
Duration: 00:55:27Chilling Risks of AI Deepfakes and Cyberattacks, w/ Security Expert Christian Seifert
Dec 14, 2023You get a FaceTime from a loved one. They're in trouble. Big trouble. Their life is in danger. They need you to Venmo you $, they have no choice.
Except...it's not them you're FaceTiming with, it's an AI-enabled deepfake that can talk to you real-time.
Welcome to the fun world of AI phishing and cyberattacks!
Christian Seifert, a veteran cyber-security expert (he used to head up cyber-security at Microsoft, and now he's Researcher in Residence at the Forta network), joins the show to unpack these kinds of risks. How worried should you be? H...
AI Risks and Safety, w/ The AI Policy Institute's Executive Director, Daniel Colson
Dec 07, 2023Now it's time for the flip side of AI.
What could go wrong?
Daniel Colson is the Executive Director of The AI Policy Institute, which has a mission of helping policy-makers create smart regulation. They also conduct polling to better understand how Americans are thinking about AI. Daniel, at heart, is a tech optimist, but in this episode he breaks down the reasons that AI makes him pause.
We cover: The different categories of AI risk, including malicious use by bad actors, AI-arms race dynamics between states, Super-AIs going off the rails, and th...
Human Cloning is Here(?!), with BHuman CEO Don Bosco
Dec 01, 2023Send in the clones. They're here.
Don Bosco is the founder and CEO of BHuman, a start-up that is, well.... creating human clones. For real! Don has cloned himself and he can easily clone you. (Digitally, at least.)
So why the cloning? Don views this as a way for him to get more done in his own life -- his clone can knock out all the pesky online things he doesn't want to do. We cover a LOT of ground in this episode, including: The benefits of having a clone, and how it can help f...
AI's Impact on Marketing and Fashion, w/ Deniz Ozgur (a Forbes' "30 Under 30" leader)
Nov 24, 2023When the AI hype began in earnest, "marketing and advertising" was one of the industries seen as most likely to be disrupted.
This is already happening. Enter Deniz Ozgur, partner at AI marketing firm Evercopy, and one of Forbes' "30 Under 30" for her groundbreaking work in retail and ecommerce.
Deniz shares how AI is *already* effective at generating both marketing content and even campaigns, and gives predictions on how it will change the industry going forward. (The theme: Personalization, personalization, personalization.)
Deniz is also the co-founder of Space Runners, an AI/fashion company, which le...