Ethan Mollick: Why OpenAl Abandons Products, The Biggest Opportunities They Have Not Taken | E1184

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

July 31, 2024

Duration

1h 9m

Channel

The Twenty Minute VC

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Ethan Mollick is the Co-Director of the Generative AI Lab at Wharton, which builds prototypes and conducts research to discover how AI can help humans thrive while mitigating risks. Ethan is also an Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship, and also examines the effects of artificial intelligence on work and education. His papers have been published in top journals and his book on AI, Co-Intelligence, is a New York Times bestseller. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:31) Thoughts on the New Llama 3.1 Model (05:52) Four Potential Outcomes: A Framework for the Future (08:24) Will AI Achieve Escape Velocity or Plateau Like the iPhone? (09:56) Identifying the Core Bottleneck: Compute, Data, or Algorithms? (13:53) Why Aren't AI Providers Offering User-Friendly Guides? (15:28) Should Powerful AI Models Be Open Source or Closed? (18:49) Will Regulations Limit AI Growth? (22:10) What Are AI Labs Missing About Business Needs? (26:00) How Can We Better Harness AI to Drive Productivity? (28:22) Will AI Redistribute Talent or Eliminate Jobs? (33:23) AI and Consumers: The Future Interface Experience (36:09) AI Ambition in Startups: What's Holding Them Back? (41:35) Founders' Diverging Views on AGI Timelines & Funding (43:33) Will You Thrive or Get Steamrolled? (49:49) The Future of Education with AI (57:33) Energy Demands & Compute as Currency (01:00:00) The Role of AI in Future Electoral Systems & Politics (01:04:40) Quick-Fire Round -------------------------------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Ethan Mollick We Discuss:

1. Models: Is More Compute the Answer: How has Ethan changed his mind on whether we have a lot of room to run in adding more compute to increase model performance? What will happen with models in the next 12 months that no one expects? Why will open models immediately be used by bad actors, what should happen as a result? Data, algorithms, compute, what is the biggest bottleneck and how will this change with time?

1. OpenAI: The Missed Opportunity, Product Roadmap and AGI: Why does Ethan believe that OpenAI is completely out of touch with creating products that consumers want to use? Which product did OpenAI shelve that will prove to be a massive mistake? How does Ethan analyse OpenAI’s pursuit of AGI? Why did Ethan think Brad, COO @ OpenAI’s heuristic of “startups should be threatened if they are not excited by a 100x improvement in model” is total BS?

1. VCs, Startups and AI Labs: What the World Does Not Understand: What do Big AI labs not understand about big companies? What are the biggest mistakes companies are making when implementing AI? Why are startups not being ambitious enough with AI today? What are the single biggest ways consumers can and should be using AI today? -------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Ethan Mollick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emollick Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact -------------------------------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #podcast #ethanmollick #wharton #professor #founder #venturecapital #openai #samaltman #bradlightcap #aitechnology

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Ethan Mollick

  guest

• Harry Stebbings

  host

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Ethan Mollick and Harry Stebbings, Ethan Mollick: Why OpenAl Abandons Products, The Biggest Opportunities They Have Not Taken | E1184 explores ethan Mollick: AI’s Machine-God Race, Real-World Gaps, And Risks Ethan Mollick argues that major AI labs like OpenAI are singularly focused on building AGI—“a machine god”—and therefore chronically underinvest in real products, documentation, and practical workflows that would help normal organizations use AI effectively today.

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