"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, Nathan interviews Andrew White, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester and Head of Science at Future House. We explore groundbreaking AI systems for scientific discovery, including PaperQA and Aviary, and discuss how large language models are transforming research. Join us for an insightful conversation about the intersection of AI and scientific advancement with this pioneering researcher in his first-ever podcast appearance. Check out Future House: https://www.futurehouse.org Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse SPONSORS: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers13. OCI powers industry leaders with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before December 31, 2024 at https://oracle.com/cognitive SelectQuote: Finding the right life insurance shouldn't be another task you put off. SelectQuote compares top-rated policies to get you the best coverage at the right price. Even in our AI-driven world, protecting your family's future remains essential. Get your personalized quote at https://selectquote.com/cognitive Shopify: Shopify is the world's leading e-commerce platform, offering a market-leading checkout system and exclusive AI apps like Quikly. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial at https://shopify.com/cognitive CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) Teaser (00:01:13) About the Episode (00:04:37) Andrew White's Journey (00:10:23) GPT-4 Red Team (00:15:33) GPT-4 & Chemistry (00:17:54) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) | SelectQuote (00:20:19) Biology vs Physics (00:23:14) Conceptual Dark Matter (00:26:27) Future House Intro (00:30:42) Semi-Autonomous AI (00:35:39) Sponsors: Shopify (00:37:00) Lab Automation (00:39:46) In Silico Experiments (00:45:22) Cost of Experiments (00:51:30) Multi-Omic Models (00:54:54) Scale and Grokking (01:00:53) Future House Projects (01:10:42) Paper QA Insights (01:16:28) Generalizing to Other Domains (01:17:57) Using Figures Effectively (01:22:01) Need for Specialized Tools (01:24:23) Paper QA Cost & Latency (01:27:37) Aviary: Agents & Environments (01:31:42) Black Box Gradient Estimation (01:36:14) Open vs Closed Models (01:37:52) Improvement with Training (01:40:00) Runtime Choice & Q-Learning (01:43:43) Narrow vs General AI (01:48:22) Future Directions & Needs (01:53:22) Future House: What's Next? (01:55:32) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, Nathan welcomes back Div Garg, Co-Founder and CEO of MultiOn, for his third appearance to discuss the evolving landscape of AI agents. We explore how agent development has shifted from open-ended frameworks to intelligent workflows, MultiOn's unique approach to agent development, and their journey toward achieving human-level performance. Dive into fascinating insights about data collection strategies, model fine-tuning techniques, and the future of agent authentication. Join us for an in-depth conversation about why 2025 might be the breakthrough year for AI agents. Check out MultiOn: https://www.multion.ai/ Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse SPONSORS: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers13. OCI powers industry leaders with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before December 31, 2024 at https://oracle.com/cognitive SelectQuote: Finding the right life insurance shouldn't be another task you put off. SelectQuote compares top-rated policies to get you the best coverage at the right price. Even in our AI-driven world, protecting your family's future remains essential. Get your personalized quote at https://selectquote.com/cognitive Weights & Biases RAG++: Advanced training for building production-ready RAG applications. Learn from experts to overcome LLM challenges, evaluate systematically, and integrate advanced features. Includes free Cohere credits. Visit https://wandb.me/cr to start the RAG++ course today. RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Unpack Pricing - Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) Teaser (00:00:40) About the Episode (00:04:10) The Rise of AI Agents (00:06:33) Open-Ended vs On-Rails (00:10:00) Agent Architecture (00:12:01) AI Learning & Feedback (00:14:01) Data Collection (Part 1) (00:18:27) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) | SelectQuote (00:20:51) Data Collection (Part 2) (00:22:25) Self-Play & Rewards (00:25:04) Model Strategy & Agent Q (00:33:28) Sponsors: Weights & Biases RAG++ (00:34:39) Understanding Agent Q (00:43:16) Search & Learning (00:45:39) Benchmarks vs Reality (00:50:18) Positive Transfer & Scale (00:51:47) Fine-Tuning Strategies (00:55:16) Vision Strategy (01:00:16) Authentication & Security (01:03:48) Future of AI Agents (01:16:14) Cost, Latency, Reliability (01:19:30) Avoiding the Bitter Lesson (01:25:58) Agent-Assisted Future (01:27:11) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, Nathan explores groundbreaking perspectives on AI alignment with MIT PhD student Tan Zhi Xuan. We dive deep into Xuan's critique of preference-based AI alignment and their innovative proposal for role-based AI systems guided by social consensus. The conversation extends into their fascinating work on how AI agents can learn social norms through Bayesian rule induction. Join us for an intellectually stimulating discussion that bridges philosophical theory with practical implementation in AI development. Check out: "Beyond Preferences in AI Alignment" paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2408.16984 "Learning and Sustaining Shared Normative Systems via Bayesian Rule Induction in Markov Games" paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.13399 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse SPONSORS: Notion: Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at https://notion.com/cognitiverevolution Weights & Biases RAG++: Advanced training for building production-ready RAG applications. Learn from experts to overcome LLM challenges, evaluate systematically, and integrate advanced features. Includes free Cohere credits. Visit https://wandb.me/cr to start the RAG++ course today. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers13. OCI powers industry leaders with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before December 31, 2024 at https://oracle.com/cognitive RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Unpack Pricing - Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) Teaser (00:01:09) About the Episode (00:04:25) Guest Intro (00:06:25) Xuan's Background (00:12:03) AI Near-Term Outlook (00:17:32) Sponsors: Notion | Weights & Biases RAG++ (00:20:18) Alignment Approaches (00:26:11) Critiques of RLHF (00:34:40) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) (00:35:50) Beyond Preferences (00:40:27) Roles and AI Systems (00:45:19) What AI Owes Us (00:51:52) Drexler's AI Services (01:01:08) Constitutional AI (01:09:43) Technical Approach (01:22:01) Norms and Deviations (01:32:31) Norm Decay (01:38:06) Self-Other Overlap (01:44:05) Closing Thoughts (01:54:23) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

In this episode of The Cognitive Revolution, Nathan explores the complex intersection of AI development and international relations with Robert Wright, publisher of the Nonzero Newsletter. They examine the growing militarization of AI, US-China relations, and the concerning trajectory of what Wright calls "the chip war." Drawing from Nathan's recent experience at The Curve conference and an AI wargame simulation, they discuss the risks of an AI arms race and search for alternative paths to avoid catastrophic conflict between global powers. Join us for this crucial conversation about the future of AI governance and international cooperation. Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at https://nonzero.substack.com Be notified early when Turpentine's drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess RECOMMENDED PODCAST: Unpack Pricing - Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg SPONSORS: Notion: Notion offers powerful workflow and automation templates, perfect for streamlining processes and laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation. With Notion AI, you can search across thousands of documents from various platforms, generating highly relevant analysis and content tailored just for you - try it for free at https://notion.com/cognitiverevolution 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours offers free one-on-one career advising for Cognitive Revolution listeners aiming to tackle global challenges, especially in AI. They connect high-potential individuals with experts, opportunities, and personalized career plans to maximize positive impact. Apply for a free call at https://80000hours.org/cognitiverevolution to accelerate your career and contribute to solving pressing AI-related issues. SelectQuote: Finding the right life insurance shouldn't be another task you put off. SelectQuote compares top-rated policies to get you the best coverage at the right price. Even in our AI-driven world, protecting your family's future remains essential. Get your personalized quote at https://selectquote.com/cognitive Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Oracle's next-generation cloud platform delivers blazing-fast AI and ML performance with 50% less for compute and 80% less for outbound networking compared to other cloud providers13. OCI powers industry leaders with secure infrastructure and application development capabilities. New U.S. customers can get their cloud bill cut in half by switching to OCI before December 31, 2024 at https://oracle.com/cognitive CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) Teaser (00:00:59) Sponsors: Incogni (00:02:20) About the Episode (00:05:56) Introducing AI2 (00:09:56) Tulu: Deep Dive (Part 1) (00:17:43) Sponsors: Notion | Shopify (00:20:38) Open vs. Closed Recipes (00:29:48) Compute & Value (Part 1) (00:34:22) Sponsors: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) | 80,000 Hours (00:37:02) Compute & Value (Part 2) (00:42:41) Model Weight Evolution (00:53:16) DPO vs. PPO (01:06:36) Project Trajectory (01:20:39) Synthetic Data & LLM Judge (01:27:39) Verifiable RL (01:38:17) Advice for Practitioners (01:44:01) Open Source vs. Closed (01:49:18) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast