Dan Kokotov: Speech Recognition with AI and Humans | Lex Fridman Podcast #151

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 4, 2021

Duration

1h 28m

Channel

Lex Fridman Podcast

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Dan Kokotov is VP of Engineering at Rev.ai, an automatic speech recognition company. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

• Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
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• Cash App: https://cash.app/ and use code LexPodcast to get $10

EPISODE LINKS: Rev: https://www.rev.com Rev.ai: https://rev.ai PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 3:23 - Dune 6:39 - Rev 12:39 - Translation 19:28 - Gig economy 28:08 - Automatic speech recognition 38:58 - Create products that people love 47:08 - The future of podcasts at Spotify 1:08:46 - Book recommendations 1:10:08 - Stories of our dystopian future 1:13:50 - Movies about Stalin and Hitler 1:19:05 - Interviewing Putin 1:25:02 - Meaning of life CONNECT:

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🎤 SPEAKERS

• Lex Fridman

  host

• Dan Kokotov

  guest

• Narrator

  other

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, featuring Lex Fridman and Dan Kokotov, Dan Kokotov: Speech Recognition with AI and Humans | Lex Fridman Podcast #151 explores human-AI Partnership Transforms Speech Into Text, Work, And Understanding Lex Fridman speaks with Dan Kokotov, VP of Engineering at Rev, about how Rev combines human freelancers and advanced automatic speech recognition (ASR) to deliver highly accurate captions and transcripts. They cover Rev’s origins as a streamlined alternative to freelancer marketplaces like Upwork, its evolution into rev.ai as a developer platform, and the technical and data advantages that drive their speech-to-text models. The conversation branches into the economics and ethics of the so‑called gig economy, product design, API and platform ecosystems, and how fully searchable audio could reshape podcasts, meetings, and information access. Along the way they explore management vs. engineering, dystopian sci‑fi (Dune, Brave New World, Brazil), platform censorship, and the broader meaning of creativity and human connection.

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