The buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) and its wide-ranging impact is inescapable. But beyond industry disruption, what significant effects does this groundbreaking technology hold for geopolitical dynamics and conflicts? 

Joining me in this episode is Sean Gourley, a renowned scientist and founder of data and machine learning-focused startups Quid and Primer. Sean will share his profound insights on AI, exploring its potential to both benefit and harm humanity. He draws parallels between the rapid 'automation' at the turn of the last century, which was weaponized, leading to wars, and the current situation. He highlights how the stakes are now even higher, with countries like the US, China, and others vying for dominant positions in this field.

Although Sean's perspectives may not always be comforting, they offer valuable insights. A regular guest on our podcast, he joins me annually for a review of significant technology trends and developments. Sean and I have been collaborating since the late 2000s, and his ability to accurately forecast trends has been impressively precise. In other words, his insights are something I pay close attention to.

Grab a cup of coffee and tune in as we explore the dualities we've experienced during the COVID lockdowns, the apparent deficit in societal imagination posing future challenges, and the critical role of AI in shaping various aspects of our world, including the potential for either global peace or conflict.

If you're interested in the following topics, you won't want to miss this episode:

• What we've lost and gained over the past three years.
• The dangers that a lack of imagination poses to our future.
• Sean's perspective on why AI might lead to a challenging 20 to 30 years ahead.
• The global balance of power and its dependence on control over AI technologies.
• Sean's views on how China is positioning itself to gain an AI advantage.
• The influence of AI on real-world medical sciences.
• Reflecting on the kind of world we desire and the extent of our commitment to achieving it."

• WeWork

• Zoom

• Open.ai

• Sean on LinkedIn

• Om’s website: https://om.co/ 

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• Om on Twitter: @Om

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This conversation with my friend Reilly Brennan - a VC expert for the automotive industry, roams across a broad landscape of topics, from the beginning of Reilly’s interest in the car industry, to his assessment of the auto industry’s progress in 2023, to Reilley’s predictions for 2024, and more — but all of those topics are tied together along the theme of technology. A.I. in particular is making the opportunities in the automotive industry bigger and bolder than we’ve seen for a very long time. Listen to learn what’s going on, what may be coming down the tube, and to learn why the kind of progress that’s typically predicted takes longer than anyone ever says it will.

• How Reilly got into the car business and automobiles

• The changes TESLA has brought to the car industry in the last 10 years

• How Reilly sums up the auto industry’s progress in 2023: the craziest year

• Why do individuals need private cars in the world we live in today?

• Why Om and Reilly actually prefer automated vehicles

• How Waymo could offer its cars in a franchise approach

• Reilly’s predictions for 2024

• Uber

• Waymo

• Mobile-eye

• Invidia

• Qualcomm

• Zitara

• May Mobility

• Gattik 

• Reilly’s company: https://www.trucks.vc/

• Reilly on LinkedIn

• Om’s website: https://om.co/ 

• Om on LinkedIn

• Om on Twitter: @Om

• Om on Instagram: @Om

Search is changing. You won’t hear Google talking heads talk about it very much because the types of things that are happening will fundamentally change the model the search engine giant has used to build its search and ad infrastructure. Sridhar Ramaswamy knows; he’s the man who led teams inside Google to build the ad technology that exists today. This conversation pulls back the curtain on what is happening in the search industry, how large language models and the use of A.I. will change everything in the next few years, and explore why Sridhar and his co-founder believe that Neeva, their new consumer-focused search engine based on A.I. is the first step in that direction. 

But we also talk about Sridhar’s experience with Google and the terrible things that can happen when a company becomes a monopoly that is as large as the government. His insights into how massive profits decrease the motivation to be truly innovative, how the service of the public good takes a back seat to profitability, and the undue influence such a large company can have on policy and legislation, are worth hearing.

• How Sridhar landed a job at Google by desiring to talk to nobody and drink coffee [0:06]
• The Google business model’s simple success and its current challenges [4:35]
• The trade offs Google has taken to get to its current predicament [10:37]
• Sridhar’s tenure at and path out of Google because it was too successful [17:12]
• The road to starting a new search engine to take on Google: Neeva [24:41]
• X-ray vision for the internet: A.I. Generative Search [30:35]
• How Neeva is approaching search and its future [35:45]
• The humbling path of being a startup founder after such success at Google [41:06]
• Large language models and the future of fluid, conversational search [45:11]

• BOOK: Attention Merchants

• Learn more about Neeva
• Follow Sridhar on LinkedIn
• Follow Sridhar on Twitter

• Follow Om on LinkedIn

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In this episode of Stuck@Om, I chat with my friend Ophir Gottlieb, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Capital Market Laboratories. We talk about the importance of proper perspective. Ophir likens perspective to a superpower — with it, we are the best investors in the world. Yet the increase of access to and influx of information has only served to create more confusion. Ophir emphasizes that we are totally overwhelmed with data and underwhelmed with information.

With that proliferation comes the competition to be profitable. The news media doesn’t just provide news — it’s become sensationalized.There is this disconnect between a story existing, and the need to just get something printed. News has probably hurt more people’s wealth than helped it. It’s very difficult to lose wealth in the stock market. Yet it continues to happen. It isn’t because people are stupid. So how can it be? Because money is tied to the identity of self and fear that you’ll lose that identity. The stock market is driven by emotion. 

Ophir and I also discuss society’s shift from a long-term orientation to one of short-term focus. Have we lost the ability to think beyond the now? We chat about Robinhood—the trading app that’s become a phenomenon—and how its impact isn’t as striking as Schwab’s move to commission-free trading. We also ruminate on the unprecedented steps that have been taken with the economy and how our expectation for a natural response to an unnatural occurrence is baseless. We are dealing with an unnatural economic impact. We can’t do the normal things when the thing we’ve created isn’t normal. 

We talk about the giant leap forward in the digital realm that’s been made out of necessity. Ophir shares that he is investing in the companies that will help the world move forward in the digital transformation. Lastly, Ophir shares his thoughts on when and how to invest in the market. We cover a wide range of fascinating topics in this conversation. Be sure to listen for insight on the economy. 

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• Ophir’s background in institutional finance
• How the influx of information has created confusion
• The information asymmetry rampant in the market
• The impact of ‘noise’ on the rise and fall of the stock market
• Has humanity become short-term oriented versus long-term?
• The phenomenon of the Robinhood trading app
• How is Ophir is reading the current market opportunities 
• Are we cycling into the future of american economy?
• Tech stock valuations are high—so when do we enter the market?
• How to connect with Ophir and join his community

• Robinhood
• Schwab

• Capital Market Laboratories
• Follow on Twitter

• www.Om.co
• Om on Twitter: @Om
• Om on Instagram: @Om

In this episode of Stuck@Om I chat with one of the great human beings on the planet — Nicholas Thompson. He’s the Editor in Chief at WIRED Magazine, an avid marathoner, and has penned one of the best essays I’ve read in recent times. In this conversation, Nick and I talk about how media outlets have to shift how they write stories to generate ‘clicks’ over ‘subscriptions’. 

We also converse about the reputation of the media and how it hasn’t improved during the Coronavirus crisis. We postulate that social media is a double-edged sword—as much as it gives, it takes away. It has only served to amplify the heat towards the media industry and appeals to the worst instincts of humanity while incentivizing the worst behaviors. Their needs to be healthy cynicism and healthy optimism in regards to social media — without that, we cannot progress.

We also have a lengthy discussion about the forced surge in telemedicine. The tech has existed for a while now, but the Coronavirus removed the typical barriers for the use of the technology. As its use becomes more widespread, what will the new rules and regulations look like? What if you had a video recording of every hospital visit since you turned 18, stored locally? So every time you visited a new doctor they had video reference for treatment.

Can we design a system to minimize the risk and maximize the benefits over a long time horizon? Be sure to listen to our conversation for an in-depth look at the future of tech writing, automation, the medical industry, and much more. 

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• Learn about Nicholas Thompson — Editor in Chief of Wired
• What WIRED publishes is important and utterly essential
• The reputation of the media hasn’t improved during this crisis
• Social media is a double-edged sword—as much as it gives it takes away
• Social media appeals to our worst instincts
• Do reporters dislike tech as often as they’re accused of it? 
• The need for healthy cynicism and healthy optimism
• How the Coronavirus crisis is creating a boom in telemedicine
• We weren’t expecting the future to arrive like it has
• Tougher cleaning requirements in airports and public places
• What spectrum of jobs will be replaced by machines?
• What the hiring process will look like in the future
• What will the future of working from home look like?

• WIRED Magazine

• Nick on Twitter
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Nick’s Website

• www.Om.co
• Om on Twitter: @Om
• Om on Instagram: @Om