Weekly Update | Apple Intelligence | AI Meetings | AI OOMs | AI Bottleneck | Universal Basic Compute

Future-Focused with Christopher Lind

It's that time of week again, and I've got another round of updates to celebrate. Thanks as always to the community of you who send in questions, topics, and feedback.

And with that, let's get on it.

Apple Intelligence - Lots of folks have been patiently waiting for Apple's big release this week to learn more about what's coming from them around AI, and the hype has been significant. Well, the time has come, and if you were looking to have your mind blown......well, let's just say you might walk away disappointed. However, there are a few interesting updates that carry some intriguing potential.

AI Meetings - Zoom's CEO thinks we need to send AI agents to attend our meetings for us, so we can be in multiple places at once. I mean, I get the line of thinking, but why aren't we asking the bigger question of, "if an AI agent attending and sending us a summary is all that's needed, couldn't that meeting have been an email?"

AI Growth Trajectory - Sam Altman doesn't hold back when he apologetically says GPT-4o is the dumbest model we'll ever have to deal with, hinting that what's ahead will be a notable improvement. Critics question the sustainability of model development. Former OpenAI employee Leopold Aschenbrenner put a lot of color on the canvas about what's ahead in his 165-page, comprehensive essay.

AI Brick Wall - What happens when AI consumes literally everything available on the Internet? It's a bit mind-boggling to think that we're almost there, but here we are, and it has some people predicting a major bottleneck for AI advancement. So, what's the solution? AI-generated data? Maybe, but how long can a snake eat its own tail before everything goes sideways?

Universal Basic Compute - It's an interesting thought experiment to consider what it would be like if our entire economic system got turned on its head. What if you paid for everything with tokens and compute power instead of the currency you use today? Would it be an easier path and deliver a better solution to the major problems held by our current economic structure, offering a utopian alternative? While the shift is rapidly becoming plausible, I don't think see it delivering on any of its promises given the root problems still exist.

Show Notes:

In this Weekly Update, Christopher explores the latest trends in business technology and human experience, highlighting new advancements from Apple's AI integration in iPhones, AI's role in meetings as proposed by the Zoom CEO, and recent updates on OpenAI's leadership and whistleblower allegations and the 165-page essay on where we're headed. We also delve into the concept of universal basic compute and its potential impact on the future economy and societal structure.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

01:21 Apple's AI Announcement: Hype vs. Reality

15:17 Zoom CEO's Vision for AI in Meetings

24:00 OpenAI Drama and Whistleblower Insights

25:14 The Spectrum of Technological Perspectives

27:00 Exponential Growth in Computing Power

29:04 The Intelligence Explosion Debate

34:20 AI's Data Brick Wall

39:27 Universal Basic Compute: A New Economic Model?

46:02 Cautionary Thoughts on AI and Society

51:14 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

#ai #appleai #datasecurity #economics #futureofwork