#52 – Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology
This is my conversation with Michael Nielsen, scientist, author, and research fellow at the Astera Institute.
Timestamps:
- (00:00:00) intro
- (00:01:06) cultivating optimism amid existential risks
- (00:07:16) asymmetric leverage
- (00:12:09) are "unbiased" models even feasible?
- (00:18:44) AI and the scientific method
- (00:23:23) unlocking AI's full power through better interfaces
- (00:30:33) sponsor: Splits
- (00:31:18) AIs, independent agents or intelligent tools?
- (00:35:47) autonomous military and weapons
- (00:42:14) finding alignment
- (00:48:28) aiming for specific moral outcomes with AI?
- (00:54:42) freedom/progress vs safety
- (00:57:46) provable beneficiary surveillance
- (01:04:16) psychological costs
- (01:12:40) the ingenuity gap
Links:
- Michael Nielsen: https://michaelnielsen.org/
- Michael Nielsen on X: https://x.com/michael_nielsen
- Michael's essay on being a wise optimist about science and technology: https://michaelnotebook.com/optimism/
- Michael's Blog: https://michaelnotebook.com/
- The Ingenuity Gap (Tad Homer-Dixon): https://homerdixon.com/books/the-ingenuity-gap/
Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:
- Splits: https://splits.org
Into the Bytecode:
- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab
- Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab
- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com
Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.
18 Mar 2025TRANSCRIPT
#51 – Jeffrey Quesnelle on Nous Research, large language models, and the human mind
This is my conversation with Jeffrey Quesnelle, cofounder of Nous Research.
Timestamps:
- (00:00:00) intro
- (00:01:08) working with new technologies
- (00:06:15) Nous Research origin story
- (00:14:08) open frontiers in research
- (00:26:07) fourier transforms for gradient compression
- (00:32:58) math behind distributed training
- (00:38:18) sponsor: Splits
- (00:39:02) neural networks history and fundamentals
- (00:51:29) the human mind and AI, hyperdimensional representation
- (01:01:15) intuition and reasoning
- (01:15:00) parallels with reinforcement learning
- (01:19:15) the cat is out of the bag
- (01:47:11) deeper mysteries
Links:
- Jeffrey Quesnelle: https://jeffq.com/
- Jeffrey Quesnelle on X: https://x.com/theemozilla
- Nous Research: https://nousresearch.com/
- Psyche: https://nousresearch.com/nous-psyche/
Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:
- Splits: https://splits.org
Into the Bytecode:
- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab
- Sina Habibian on Farcaster: https://warpcast.com/sinahab
- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com
Disclaimer:
This podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.
25 Feb 2025TRANSCRIPT
#50 – Alexander Long on Pluralis Research and protocol learning for frontier models
This is my conversation with Alexander Long, Founder & CEO of Pluralis Research.
Timestamps:
- (00:00:00) intro
- (00:00:55) collaborative training
- (00:09:49) economics of training
- (00:13:10) what is protocol learning?
- (00:20:48) protocol learning design and politics
- (00:33:39) sponsor: Splits
- (00:34:22) hardware requirements
- (00:41:53) adapting to the landscape
- (00:49:53) open and closed models
- (00:52:52) market structure with fully open models
- (00:56:34) research and risks
- (01:02:19) labor and national security
- (01:10:58) looking to the future
- (01:14:20) outro
Links:
- Alexander on X: https://x.com/_alexanderlong (https://x.com/_alexanderlong)
- Alexander on Github: https://github.com/AlexanderJLong (https://github.com/AlexanderJLong)
- Article 2: Protocol Learning, Protocol Models and the Great Convergence: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/article-2-protocol-learning-protocol (https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/article-2-protocol-learning-protocol)
- Decentralized Training Looms: https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/decentralized-ai-looms (https://www.pluralisresearch.com/p/decentralized-ai-looms)
Thank you to our sponsor for making this podcast possible:
- Splits: https://splits.org (https://splits.org)
Into the Bytecode:
- Sina Habibian on X: https://twitter.com/sinahab
- Sina Habibian on Farcaster - https://warpcast.com/sinahab (https://warpcast.com/sinahab)
- Into the Bytecode: https://intothebytecode.com (https://intothebytecode.com)
Disclaimer: this podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice nor a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The host and guests may hold positions in the projects discussed.
Inside a recent episode
#52 – Michael Nielsen on being a wise optimist about science and technology
Published 27 Mar 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Chemical weapons, the question becomes I think a little harder because, you know, there's not the same, you know, the chemical weapons, you get to decide how to use them. There's less significant, not no chance of blowback, but this, you know, you get a lot, a lot more sort of control over the targeting. And it is a really interesting question that like why it's also, apparently it's true historically. And I don't really know much about the history, but apparently, you know, there were a lot of forms observed in war sort of over the centuries and millennia where, you know, it's sort of reminds me anyway of the extent to which we're animals. […]
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