Humans in the Loop

Benedict Evans is a tech analyst and former partner at A16z.
His newsletter with rational takes on tech goes out to over 175k people.
In amongst the noise around AI and the tech industry more broadly, Benedict has built a reputation for high quality, level headed analysis.
I sat down with Benedict to discuss topics such as:
The current state of technology and ongoing platform shifts
Whether this time is truly different or not
Historical comparisons of technological revolutions
Challenges in predicting AI's future trajectory
Silicon Valley’s naivety about the world
The cultural and philosophical aspects of AI and art
The importance of understanding complex systems and markets

Where else you can listen
Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod
⁠⁠Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠ - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114
Spotify⁠⁠ - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e
Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Benedict Evans' perspective on tech noise
03:33 E-commerce growth and retail media expansion
07:05 Historical scale of technological change and exponential growth
10:33 The unpredictability of technological evolution
14:08 The difference between automating tasks and jobs
17:24 The limitations of AI in creating authentic art
18:13 The organizational and deployment challenges of AI
20:39 The emergence of new pathways and the unpredictability of AI evolution
22:20 Historical perspectives on internet and mobile adoption
23:37 The importance of questions and uncertainty in analysis
25:01 The impact of the internet on industries and productivity
26:29 The exponential nature of technological progress
28:23 Organizational inertia and the difficulty of change
30:04 The complexity of automating jobs versus tasks
32:38 The role of models in understanding human work and creativity
36:26 The potential of AI as a pattern matcher and logic system
39:23 The philosophical limits of AI and human judgment
41:24 Cultural perceptions of art, authenticity, and AI
44:52 The enduring human element and cultural value in art
45:46 The future of AI and human creativity
48:47 The broader implications of AI as a platform for a new economy
50:15 Historical context of technological revolutions and their long timelines
52:24 Philosophical debates on existence, value, and AI
54:07 Benedict Evans' perspective on Silicon Valley and tech optimism
55:35 The influence of politics and regulation on AI development
56:49 The mindset needed for startup innovation and large-scale change
57:20 Benedict Evans' optimism about the future and long-term progress
58:47 Reflections on historical hardships and the progress of humanity
01:00:51 The long arc of human history and technological progress

Get in touch
Instagram⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/
Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠
Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

Where to find Benedict
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedictevans/
Newsletter: https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter
Website: https://www.ben-evans.com

Few people understand language quite like today's guest. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington.
She's also the person who coined the term 'Stochastic Parrots' in the now infamous paper that saw Google fire its Ethical AI lead; and the co-author of The AI Con, a book which is unflinching in its criticism of both AI boosterism and doomerism (in fact she objects to the term AI).
I sat down with Emily to discuss topics such as:
How language really works
What LLMs are actually doing
What Stochastic Parrots really means
Why doomers and boosters are two sides of the same, misleading coin

Where else you can listen
⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠ - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod
⁠Apple podcasts⁠⁠⁠ - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114
⁠Spotify⁠ - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e

Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to AI and Linguistics
02:54 Understanding Computational Linguistics
05:47 The Stochastic Parrots Paper
08:32 The Implications of AI Terminology
10:57 Skepticism Towards AI Claims
12:58 The Illusion of Intelligence in AI
15:55 The Dangers of AI in Professional Settings
18:33 Democratization and Distrust in AI Development
28:02 Doomers vs. Boosters: The AI Narrative
32:57 Skepticism in AI: A Personal Journey
36:30 The Rapid Evolution of AI: Are We Outdated?
40:13 The Role of Software Engineering in AI
48:14 Automation vs. Human Expertise: A Balancing Act
53:02 Geopolitical Narratives: The AI Arms Race
56:33 The Future of AI: Regulation and Ethical Use
57:44 Pride in Expertise: Understanding Our Value

Get in touch
⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/
Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠
Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

I sat down with Paul Kedrosky - investor, researcher and one of the smartest voices out there on the economics of AI and the risks of a bubble.

Here are a few of the questions we talked about:
What is a bubble?
Is AI a bubble?
How does it compare to past bubbles?
What would cause the bubble to burst?
Why should the average person care?
Will we see a bull market in laser tag in all the abandoned data centres?
What needs to be true for AI to NOT be a bubble?

More info about Paul
Paul Kedrosky is an investor, writer, and researcher. He has been a regular on-air contributor at CNBC and Bloomberg, and has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and publications around the world.
Paul started as an engineer, became a quota-carrying salesperson, then a technology equity analyst on Wall Street, and eventually a venture capitalist. He has started companies, held academic positions in the U.S. and Canada, has a popular newsletter, and is a research fellow at MIT's Institute for the Digital Economy. His Ph.D. research focused on risk, adoption, and path dependence in finance and technology.

Where else you can listen
⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod
Apple podcasts⁠⁠ - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e

Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Chapters
00:00 The AI Bubble Debate
06:44 Understanding Bubbles and Their Characteristics
12:04 Historical Context: Railroads and AI
17:51 The Call Option on AI's Future
19:29 The Necessity of Bubbles for Progress
25:31 Consequences of Stranded Assets
26:51 The Dilemma of Data Centers
28:46 The AI Bubble Dynamics
31:20 The Impact of Economic Bubbles on Society
34:06 The Interconnectedness of Global Financial Systems
36:17 Public Sentiment Towards AI and Job Security
38:18 The Fallacy of Technological Inevitability
40:20 Regulatory Challenges in a Globalized Economy
42:50 Predicting the Burst of the AI Bubble
45:37 Market Sentiment and AI Valuations
49:21 The Token Economy and Its Implications
52:28 Possibilities of Change in the Current Landscape
54:57 The Future of Work and Economic Stability

Links
https://paulkedrosky.com/

Get in touch
⁠Instagram⁠ - https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod/
Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠
Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

How do ideas, however crazy they might seem, spread?

Who's a true believer vs. a grifter following the money?

Can you talk about Epstein and QAnon without losing your rational mind?

How can investigative journalism move with the times?

These are just some of the questions I sat down to discuss with award-winning journalist and author James R Ball.

He has worked as the global editor of TBIJ, a special correspondent at BuzzFeed UK and special projects editor at The Guardian, where he played a key role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden, as well as the offshore leaks, HSBC Files, Reading the Riots and Keep it in the Ground projects. At WikiLeaks he was closely involved in Cablegate – the publication of 250,000 classified US embassy cables in 2010 – as well as working on two documentaries based on the Iraq War Logs.
James is the author of multiple books, including Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered The World and The Tangled Web We Weave: Inside The Shadow System That Shapes the Internet. His most recent book, The Other Pandemic: How Qanon Contaminated The World, was published by Bloomsbury in July 2023.

Where else you can listen
⁠Youtube⁠
⁠Apple podcasts⁠
Or wherever you get your podcasts!

Chapters
00:00 The Evolution of Information Sharing
08:41 Understanding QAnon: Origins and Impact
28:37 The Social Dynamics of Conspiracy Theories
29:34 Navigating Adolescence and Online Radicalization
34:20 The Manosphere and Young Men's Perspectives
37:01 Moral Panics and Information Overload
40:04 The Epstein Connection and Conspiracy Theories
52:37 The Future of Information in the Digital Age

Links
https://bsky.app/profile/jamesrball.com
https://www.jamesrball.com/about

Get in touch
Instagram
Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠
Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com

Many of us have a sense that even well-meaning companies and institutions lose their way, sometimes becoming downright evil.Eric Ries is a legend when it comes to building tech companies and his new book is written from the perspective of someone whose been 'on the frontlines in the battle for the soul of our economy'.Incorruptible is a new blueprint for companies that will prosper and endure without losing their soul. Now more than ever we need great organisations, institutions and companies. Things that bring us together, not that tear us apart. That we can trust in to put shared human interests and values at the heart of what they do.If you're going to listen to one Humans in the Loop episode, make it this one.

Buy the book now.

Where else you can listen
Youtube
Apple podcastsOr wherever you get your podcasts!

Chapters
00:00 The Core Thesis of 'Incorruptible'
02:52 The Urgency of the Moment
07:13 Understanding Financial Gravity
12:21 The Concept of Shareholder Primacy
17:54 The Misconception of Capitalism
23:13 Examples of Resilient Companies
26:59 The Value of Innovative Corporate Structures
28:59 AI Governance and Corporate Responsibility
30:35 The Role of Governance in AI Companies
32:50 Integrity and Mission in Corporate Governance
35:45 The Importance of Principles in Business Decisions
38:30 The Role of Integrity in Governance
40:49 The Consequences of Corporate Mission Statements
43:28 Balancing Lean Startup Principles with Governance
46:35 The Right Time for Founders to Implement Governance
49:23 An Optimistic Vision for the Future of BusinessLinks
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/
https://x.com/ericries
https://www.instagram.com/ericriesactual/
https://www.tiktok.com/@ericriesactual
https://news.theleanstartup.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow

Get in touch
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/humansinthelooppod⁠
Email: ⁠seb@theuncommonfounder.com⁠
Website: ⁠https://www.theuncommonfounder.com