Logo

    The Best of 2024 (so far) with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil

    enJuly 11, 2024
    What roles does AI play in FinTech according to the text?
    How does Emily Glassberg-Sans view identity verification in FinTech?
    What are the challenges of evaluating AI systems mentioned?
    How do hardware and software companies differ in design approaches?
    What significance does continuous evaluation have for AI technology?

    Podcast Summary

    • AI in FinTechAI enhances human capabilities in FinTech through identity verification, financial integrations, and understanding business identity and compliance. LLMs can automate financial integrations and improve operations.

      AI is revolutionizing various industries, including FinTech, by providing solutions for complex problems and enhancing human capabilities. Emily Glassberg-Sans, the head of information at Stripe, discussed the potential of AI in FinTech, specifically in the area of identity verification and financial integrations. She emphasized the importance of understanding business identity and compliance with regulations. Glassberg-Sans also mentioned the potential for LLMs (Large Language Models) to automate financial integrations and improve business operations. Additionally, Dylan Field, a founder using AI to change the design process, discussed the shift from human-to-human collaboration to human-to-AI collaboration in creative industries. These examples illustrate how AI is not only augmenting human capabilities but also changing the way we work and collaborate. Overall, AI's impact on industries is significant and will continue to shape the future of business and innovation.

    • AI in DesignAI enhances design roles by providing documentation, access, and efficiency, but human emotions, user context, and cultural understanding are crucial elements that AI cannot fully replicate.

      The iterative process between designers and AI is essential in the design context. While AI can help with brainstorming and problem-solving, human emotions, user context, and cultural understanding are still crucial elements that AI cannot fully replicate. In the near future, AI is more likely to enhance design roles by providing documentation, access, and efficiency, rather than replacing them entirely. The number of software pieces created is expected to increase dramatically, but the need for human designers and engineers is not likely to diminish significantly. In the hardware and software development of complex projects like Figure AI's humanoid robots, managing product development requires a focus on velocity and effective communication between teams to bring hardware, software, and AI components to reality.

    • Hardware vs Software Design ApproachHardware companies prioritize continuous testing and prototyping with methodical processes and design gates, while software companies follow agile methodologies prioritizing features based on client needs and testing through A/B testing and analytics. Both emphasize a scientific approach to validate design effectiveness.

      Both hardware and software companies employ an iterative design approach, but the implementation varies due to the different nature of their products. The hardware company emphasizes continuous testing and prototyping to ensure their designs meet the necessary requirements and function safely. They have a methodical process with design gates and reviews throughout the year. In contrast, a software company may follow a more agile methodology, prioritizing features based on client needs and feedback, and testing through A/B testing and analytics. However, both share the importance of a scientific approach to validate the effectiveness of their designs or features. In the case of the hardware company, they are designing actuators from scratch, making assumptions, and conducting trade studies to avoid wasting time on designs that don't work. Meanwhile, the OpenAI research team has seen inspiring creations from artists using their generative video model, showcasing the potential of AI in creating visually striking content. Overall, both companies demonstrate the importance of an iterative, methodical, and scientific approach to design and development.

    • AI-generated contentAI models like Sora enable creatively brilliant individuals to generate compelling content in minutes, extending beyond traditional films to physics simulations, robotics, and more.

      AI models like Sora are revolutionizing content creation by enabling creatively brilliant individuals, even those who consider themselves shy or less skilled, to bring their ideas to life. These models can generate compelling content in a matter of minutes, as demonstrated by the cool short story of a shy kid with an airhead character and a balloon, or the Bling Zoo scene. While it's exciting to envision the future of professionally produced content using these models, the possibilities extend beyond traditional films. The true potential lies in the creative artists finding new ways to interact with and use these models to generate content that is different from what we're used to. As the technology continues to evolve, we may see applications in areas like physics simulations, robotics, and more. The future of AI-generated content is vast and exciting, and it's the creative minds that will push the boundaries of what's possible.

    • AI and computer science fundamentalsUnderstanding computer science and math fundamentals is crucial as AI progresses, as it enables the analysis of video data and impacts work and economy.

      While the role of software engineers may evolve to include more communication and problem-solving skills, the fundamental knowledge of computer science and math will remain valuable. The use of video data in fields like robotics is a prime example of how much can be learned about the physical world through this modality. Furthermore, the impact of AI on work and economy is expected to be felt sooner rather than later, but the predictions about the singularity and superintelligence are uncertain. The importance of understanding the basics of computer science and math will continue to be essential as the field of AI progresses.

    • AI trust and safetyEnsuring trust and safety in AI requires continuous evaluation and deployment, human expert evaluations, and public transparency to understand strengths, weaknesses, and risks.

      As AI systems continue to advance and approach or surpass human abilities, ensuring trust and safety becomes a crucial responsibility. The AI lifecycle, which includes data abundance and quality, model training, evaluation, and continuous development, is essential for both the industry and society. However, evaluating and measuring the performance of AI systems is challenging due to the complexities of human intelligence and the potential for overfitting in academic benchmarks. To address this, human expert evaluations and public visibility and transparency into model performance are necessary to understand strengths, weaknesses, and risks associated with AI systems. Continuous evaluation and deployment in a safe manner are essential to ensure the responsible development and adoption of AI technology.

    • AI measurement and reliabilityEnsuring accurate measurement and building confidence in AI systems is crucial for their further adoption and development, and infrastructure providers have a role to support the data needs for the ecosystem to make these systems reliable and precise.

      Accurate measurement and building confidence in AI systems is crucial for their further adoption and development. As infrastructure providers, it's our role to support the data needs for the entire ecosystem, and this starts with ensuring the systems are reliable and precise. This was a key theme in the discussions at the event reshaping our world with AI. To hear more, check out the full episodes linked in the podcast description. Join us next week for new interviews, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen for a new episode every week. Sign up for emails or find transcripts for every episode at no-priars.com.

    Recent Episodes from No Priors: Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Technology | Startups

    Building toward a bright post-AGI future with Eric Steinberger from Magic.dev

    Building toward a bright post-AGI  future with Eric Steinberger from Magic.dev
    Today on No Priors, Sarah Guo and Elad Gil are joined by Eric Steinberger, the co-founder and CEO of Magic.dev. His team is developing a software engineer co-pilot that will act more like a colleague than a tool. They discussed what makes Magic stand out from the crowd of AI co-pilots, the evaluation bar for a truly great AI assistant, and their predictions on what a post-AGI world could look like if the transition is managed with care.  Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @EricSteinb Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction (0:45) Eric’s journey to founding Magic.dev (4:01) Long context windows for more accurate outcomes (10:53) Building a path toward AGI (15:18) Defining what is enough compute for AGI (17:34) Achieving Magic’s final UX (20:03) What makes a good AI assistant (22:09) Hiring at Magic (27:10) Impact of AGI (32:44) Eric’s north star for Magic (36:09) How Magic will interact in other tools

    Cloud Strategy in the AI Era with Matt Garman, CEO of AWS

    Cloud Strategy in the AI Era with Matt Garman, CEO of AWS
    In this episode of No Priors, hosts Sarah and Elad are joined by Matt Garman, the CEO of Amazon Web Services. They talk about the evolution of Amazon Web Services (AWS) from its inception to its current position as a major player in cloud computing and AI infrastructure. In this episode they touch on AI commuting hardware,  partnerships with AI startups, and the challenges of scaling for AI workloads. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil  Show Notes:  (00:00) Introduction  (00:23) Matt’s early days at Amazon (02:53) Early conception of AWS (06:36) Understanding the full opportunity of cloud compute (12:21) Blockers to cloud migration (14:19) AWS reaction to Gen AI (18:04) First-party models at hyperscalers (20:18) AWS point of view on open source (22:46) Grounding and knowledge bases (26:07) Semiconductors and data center capacity for AI workloads (31:15) Infrastructure investment for AI startups (33:18) Value creation in the AI ecosystem (36:22) Enterprise adoption  (38:48) Near-future predictions for AWS usage (41:25) AWS’s role for startups

    The marketplace for AI compute with Jared Quincy Davis from Foundry

    The marketplace for AI compute with Jared Quincy Davis from Foundry
    In this episode of No Priors, hosts Sarah and Elad are joined by Jared Quincy Davis, former DeepMind researcher and the Founder and CEO of Foundry, a new AI cloud computing service provider. They discuss the research problems that led him to starting Foundry, the current state of GPU cloud utilization, and Foundry's approach to improving cloud economics for AI workloads. Jared also touches on his predictions for the GPU market and the thinking behind his recent paper on designing compound AI systems. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @jaredq_ Show Notes:  (00:00) Introduction  (02:42) Foundry background (03:57) GPU utilization for large models (07:29) Systems to run a large model (09:54) Historical value proposition of the cloud (14:45) Sharing cloud compute to increase efficiency  (19:17) Foundry’s new releases (23:54) The current state of GPU capacity (29:50) GPU market dynamics (36:28) Compound systems design (40:27) Improving open-ended tasks

    How AI can help build smarter systems for every team with Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh of Ramp

    How AI can help build  smarter systems for every team  with Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh of Ramp
    In this episode of No Priors, hosts Sarah and Elad are joined by Ramp co-founders Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh of Ramp. The pair has been working to build one of the fastest growing fintechs since they were teenagers. This conversation focuses on how Ramp engineers have been building new systems to help every team from sales and marketing to product. They’re building best-in-class SaaS solutions just for internal use to make sure their company remains competitive. They also get into how AI will augment marketing and creative fields, the challenges of selling productivity, and how they’re using LLMs to create internal podcasts using sales calls to share what customers are saying with the whole team.  Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @eglyman l @karimatiyeh Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction to Ramp (3:17) Working with startups (8:13) Ramp’s implementation of AI (14:10) Resourcing and staffing (17:20) Deciding when to build vs buy (21:20) Selling productivity (25:01) Risk mitigation when using AI (28:48) What the AI stack is missing (30:50) Marketing with AI (37:26) Designing a modern marketing team (40:00) Giving creative freedom to marketing teams (42:12) Augmenting bookkeeping (47:00) AI-generated podcasts

    Innovating Spend Management through AI with Pedro Franceschi from Brex

    Innovating Spend Management through AI with Pedro Franceschi from Brex
    Hunting down receipts and manually filling out invoices kills productivity. This week on No Priors, Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Pedro Franceschi, co-founder and CEO of Brex. Pedro discusses how Brex is harnessing AI to optimize spend management and automate tedious accounting and compliance tasks for teams. The conversation covers the reliability challenges in AI today, Pedro’s insights on the future of fintech in an AI-driven world, and the major transitions Brex has navigated in recent years. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @Pedroh96 Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction (0:32) Brex’s business and transitioning to solo CEO (3:04) Building AI into Brex  (7:09) Solving for risk and reliability in AI-enabled financial products (11:41) Allocating resources toward AI investment (14:00) Innovating data use in marketing  (20:00) Building durable businesses in the face of AI (25:36) AI’s impact on finance (29:15) Brex’s decision to focus on startups and enterprises

    Google DeepMind's Vision for AI, Search and Gemini with Oriol Vinyals from Google DeepMind

    Google DeepMind's Vision for AI, Search and Gemini with Oriol Vinyals from Google DeepMind
    In this episode of No Priors, hosts Sarah and Elad are joined by Oriol Vinyals, VP of Research, Deep Learning Team Lead, at Google DeepMind and Technical Co-lead of the Gemini project. Oriol shares insights from his career in machine learning, including leading the AlphaStar team and building competitive StarCraft agents. We talk about Google DeepMind, forming the Gemini project, and integrating AI technology throughout Google products. Oriol also discusses the advancements and challenges in long context LLMs, reasoning capabilities of models, and the future direction of AI research and applications. The episode concludes with a reflection on AGI timelines, the importance of specialized research, and advice for future generations in navigating the evolving landscape of AI. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @oriolvinyalsml Show Notes:  (00:00) Introduction to Oriol Vinyals (00:55) The Gemini Project and Its Impact (02:04) AI in Google Search and Chat Models (08:29) Infinite Context Length and Its Applications (14:42) Scaling AI and Reward Functions (31:55) The Future of General Models and Specialization (38:14) Reflections on AGI and Personal Insights (43:09) Will the Next Generation Study Computer Science? (45:37) Closing thoughts

    Low-Code in the Age of AI and Going Enterprise, with Howie Liu from Airtable

    Low-Code in the Age of AI and Going Enterprise, with Howie Liu from Airtable
    This week on No Priors, Sarah Guo and Elad Gil are joined by Howie Liu, the co-founder and CEO of Airtable. Howie discusses their Cobuilder launch, the evolution of Airtable from a simple productivity tool to an enterprise app platform with integrated AI capabilities. They talk about why the conventional wisdom of “app not platform” can be wrong,  why there’s a future for low-code in the age of AI and code generation, and where enterprises need help adopting AI. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @Howietl Show Notes:  (00:00) Introduction (00:29) The Origin and Evolution of Airtable (02:31) Challenges and Successes in Building Airtable (06:09) Airtable's Transition to Enterprise Solutions (09:44) Insights on Product Management (16:23) Integrating AI into Airtable (21:55) The Future of No Code and AI (30:30) Workshops and Training for AI Adoption (36:28) The Role of Code Generation in No Code Platforms

    How AI is opening up new markets and impacting the startup status quo with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil

    How AI is opening up new markets and impacting the startup status quo with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil
    This week on No Priors, we have a host-only episode. Sarah and Elad catch up to discuss how tech history may be repeating itself. Much like in the early days of the internet, every company is clamoring to incorporate AI into their products or operations while some legacy players are skeptical that investment in AI will pay off. They also get into new opportunities and capabilities that AI is opening up, whether or not incubators are actually effective, and what companies are poised to stand the test of time in the changing tech landscape. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction (0:16) Old school operators AI misunderstandings (5:10) Tech history is repeating itself with slow AI adoption (6:09) New AI Markets (8:48) AI-backed buyouts (13:03) AI incubation (17:18) Exciting incubating applications (18:26) AI and the public markets (22:20) Staffing AI companies  (25:14) Competition and shrinking head count

    The Best of 2024 (so far) with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil

    The Best of 2024 (so far) with Sarah Guo and Elad Gil
    Believe or not, we’re almost halfway through 2024. Sarah and Elad have spent the first of this year talking with some of the most innovative minds in the AI industry, so we’re taking a look at some of our favorite No Priors conversations so far featuring Dylan Field (Figma); Emily Glassberg-Sands (Stripe); Brett Adcock (Figure AI); Aditya Ramesh, Tim Brooks and Bill Peebles (OpenAI’s Sora Team); Scott Wu (Cognition); and Alexandr Wang (Scale). Watch or listen to the full episodes here: Build AI products at on-AI companies with Emily Glassberg Sands from Stripe Designing the Future: Dylan Field on AI, Collaboration, and Independence The argument for humanoid robots with Brett Adcock from Figure OpenAI’s Sora team thinks we’ve only seen the "GPT-1 of video models" Cognition’s Scott Wu on how Devin, the AI software engineer, will work for you The Data Foundry for AI with Alexandr Wang from Scale Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil  Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction (0:46) Emily Glassberg Sands on the Future of AI and Fintech (4:23 Dylan Field on AI and Human Creative Potential (9:03) Brett Adcock on Running Figure AI’s Hardware and Software Processes (12:43) OpenAI’s Sora Team on Artists’ Creative Experiences with their Model (17:43) Scott Wu Gives Advice for Human Engineers Co-Working with AI (21:06) Alexandr Wang on How Quality Data Builds Confidence in AI Systems

    State Space Models and Real-time Intelligence with Karan Goel and Albert Gu from Cartesia

    State Space Models and Real-time Intelligence with Karan Goel and Albert Gu from Cartesia
    This week on No Priors, Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Karan Goel and Albert Gu from Cartesia. Karan and Albert first met as Stanford AI Lab PhDs, where their lab invented Space Models or SSMs, a fundamental new primitive for training large-scale foundation models. In 2023, they Founded Cartesia to build real-time intelligence for every device. One year later, Cartesia released Sonic which generates high quality and lifelike speech with a model latency of 135ms—the fastest for a model of this class. Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @krandiash | @_albertgu Show Notes:  (0:00) Introduction (0:28) Use Cases for Cartesia and Sonic  (1:32) Karan Goel & Albert Gu’s professional backgrounds (5:06) Steady State Models (SSMs) versus Transformer Based Architectures  (11:51) Domain Applications for Hybrid Approaches  (13:10) Text to Speech and Voice (17:29) Data, Size of Models and Efficiency  (20:34) Recent Launch of Text to Speech Product (25:01) Multimodality & Building Blocks (25:54) What’s Next at Cartesia?  (28:28) Latency in Text to Speech (29:30) Choosing Research Problems Based on Aesthetic  (31:23) Product Demo (32:48) Cartesia Team & Hiring