Scouting the AI Revolution with Robert Scoble and "Ben's Bites" creator Ben Tossell

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Video Description

Nathan Labenz sits down with prominent - and notably prescient - AI media figures Robert Scoble and Ben Tossell. They discuss what the work of being an AI scout looks like, how to bring the mainstream along with emerging AI developments, and their predictions and hopes for AI.

Robert Scoble is a long-time Silicon Valley technology explorer and connector, a futurist who's met so many technology legends in their primes that he's now also something of a historian. https://scobleizer.blog/

Ben Tossell is the creator of Ben's Bites, an AI round up newsletter meant to be read in 5 minutes or less, read by over 90,000 subscribers. https://www.bensbites.co/

This episode caps off our series centered on talking to rising voices in AI media: people who are now only working overtime to understand everything going on in AI, but also creating thought leadership and educational content meant to help others get up to speed as well.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:
The Scout Mindset from Julia Galef

PODCAST RECOMMENDATION:
Youtube: @UpstreamwithErikTorenberg
Audio: https://link.chtbl.com/Upstream

TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Episode preview
(01:27) What an AI Scout is
(07:03) Robert Scoble’s story and being Apple’s first child laborer
(12:35) How an AI understands
(13:25) The dormant chips sleeping in our Apple devices
(15:36) Sponsor: Omneky
(19:39) Tapping into the potential of a new Siri
(22:29) Computer vision in GPT-4
(23:49) Would Robert get a Neuralink implant?
(25:05) Robert’s outlook for robotics
(28:27) Expectations for the next Siri
(30:18) Startups vs. incumbents in the AI race
(31:42) The future of apps
(32:16) Tools that Robert uses and the new tech coming
(37:15) AI Safety
(39:12) The AI race and US-China relations
(40:30) Robert’s Tesla FSD experience and The Exponential Age
(44:49) Ben Tossell’s Story and Ben’s Bites
(47:11) Will AI-first or AI-layer products win?
(50:43) Poor, Good, Best Incumbents in AI
(56:19) AI-wrapper products

TWITTER:
@CogRev_Podcast
@labenz (Nathan)
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@Scobleizer (Robert)
@bentossell (Ben

Thank you Omneky for sponsoring The Cognitive Revolution. Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work, customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off.

More show notes and reading material released in our Substack: https://cognitiverevolution.substack.com/

Music License: XYDAPDAZTICP9TYG