AI and I

Dan Shipper
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AI and I

Learn how the smartest people in the world are using AI to think, create, and relate. Each week I interview founders, filmmakers, writers, investors, and others about how they use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney in their work and in their lives. We screen-share through their historical chats and then experiment with AI live on the show. Join us to discover how AI is changing how we think about our world—and ourselves. For more essays, interviews, and experiments at the forefront of AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought?sort=newest.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    How to Prepare for AGI According to Reid Hoffman - Ep. 46

    AGI is coming. Reid Hoffman just wrote the book on how to prepare. According to Reid, every major tech breakthrough (the written word, the printing press, the telephone) triggered mass fear. But, contrary to our worries, new technology tends to enhance human agency—even more so, if you know how to use it well. Reid is the cofounder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI; a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners; an early backer and board member of OpenAI; and an award-winning podcaster We spent an hour talking about how to develop a compass for navigating AGI. Here are a few takeaways: Our sense of human agency is not just about external control but an internal stance—how we approach uncertainty & new tech is crucial In new technology waves, NO blueprint or plan will have the right answers. Instead, adapting to new technology requires broad access, an experimental mindset, and flexibility In an AGI world most jobs will transform, not disappear—and how you can prepare with hands-on trial and error How certain social norms and ethics should change as AGI changes the landscape—like individual access to personal data  Why now may be finally be the era where quantified self tools become valuable …and more, including everything in his new book Superagency, out this week.  It was a pleasure to have him on the show for a second time. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to help build a more human future with AI. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:29 Patterns in how we’ve historically adopted technology: 00:02:50 Why humans have typically been fearful of new technologies: 00:07:02 How Reid developed his own sense of agency: 00:13:25 The way Reid thinks about making investment decisions: 00:20:08 AI as a “techno-humanist” compass: 00:29:40 How to prepare yourself for the way AI will change knowledge work: 00:35:30 Why equitable access to AI is important: 00:41:39 Reid’s take on why private commons will be beneficial for society: 00:45:15  How AI is making Silicon Valley’s conception of the “quantified self” a reality: 00:47:23 The shift from symbolic to sub-symbolic AI mirrors how we understand intelligence: 00:52:14 Reid’s new book, Superagency: 01:03:29 Links to resources mentioned in the episode:   Reid Hoffman: @reidhoffman Superagency, Reid’s newest book:

    1h 9m

  2. 22 JAN

    The Venture Capitalist Who Finds the Best AI Products—Before They Win - Ep. 45 with Nabeel Hyatt

    Nabeel Hyatt is looking for the “Japanese toilets” of AI—products that delight users in unexpected ways. As a partner at Spark Capital, that investment philosophy has paid off. Despite making only 1-2 investments a year, he’s picked some of the biggest winners in AI so far: Descript, Cruise, and Granola. We spent an hour unpacking:  How much “leash” top products give to AI agents—and why that matters How he spots remarkable AI products Why “sensitivity” is one of the most important traits of top founders The huge opportunities for AI products to help users explore new “possibility spaces” How Nabeel is actually using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and AI code editor Windsurf in his life  If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:32 Why Nabeel doesn’t invest in more than two companies per year: 00:01:50 Why the words you use to describe your business matter: 00:06:49 What a product with soul looks like: 00:13:45 Patterns in the remarkable founders Nabeel has invested in: 00:16:48 How Nabeel evaluates popular coding agents: 00:24:12  AI has broadened the horizons of what Nabeel can do: 00:32:29 How funding models are changing as AI makes it cheaper to build software: 00:36:28 Nabeel’s framework for when to trust an LLM: 00:45:43  Guide AI to provide context (and not just quick answers): 00:55:39 Links to resources mentioned in the episode:   Nabeel Hyatt: @nabeel, https://nabeelhyatt.com/  Spark Capital: https://www.sparkcapital.com/  The piece Chris Pedregal wrote for Every: How to Build a Truly Useful AI Product  Chris Pedregal on AI & I: 🎧 The Secret to Building Sticky AI Products  The AI tools Nabeel talks about: Windsurf, Wordware

    1h 2m

  3. 15 JAN

    An Inside Look at Building an Email Client in 3 Months - Ep. 44 with Kieran Klaassen, Brandon Gell

    Building an email client used to take many years and millions of dollars. But Every’s Kieran Klaassen built Cora—a totally new way to manage your inbox with AI—in just 3 months. He even shipped the original MVP of the product in a single day—something that just wasn’t possible before the current state of generative AI.  Now, there are almost 10,000 people on the waitlist for Cora, and we’re onboarding new users every single day.  Every’s head of Studio Brandon Gell and I worked closely with Kieran as he built Cora, and to kick off my podcast, AI and I, in 2025, I invited both of them on the show to talk about it. We go behind the scenes, getting into: How Kieran built the product with Cursor, o1, and o1 Pro What we’re learning as we onboard new users every day The future of Cora and of Every as a multi-modal media company This is a must watch for anyone curious about our approach to building with AI at Every. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:56 How the maker of Cora describes the product: 00:02:33 Our first mistake while building Cora: 00:06:31 The story of how Kieran shipped the first MVP overnight: 00:09:37 Why Dan believes software is becoming content: 00:13:44 Products with a point of view will win: 00:16:40 How Kieran approaches building a new product: 00:19:16 Best practices while using Cursor: 00:31:55 Hacking together a copy editor in Cursor live on the show: 00:41:05 The future of Cora, and the hardest challenge we face today: 00:53:58

    1h 15m

  4. 18/12/2024

    How AI Will Change Science Forever - Ep. 43 with Alice Albrecht

    AI is going to change science forever. Small scale studies will give way to large scale open data gathering efforts. We’ll shift from seeking broad general theories to making contextual predictions in individual cases. The traditional research paper will change fundamentally. That’s why I had Alice Albrecht on the show. Few people straddle the worlds of science and AI like she does: She holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from Yale and is a machine learning researcher with almost a decade of experience. Her startup re:collect built an app to augment human intelligence with AI and was acqui-hired by SmartNews earlier this year. She now heads up AI product there. We get into the contours of this new paradigm in science: - Whether research papers are still the best format to “release” science in - The increasing importance of data in scientific discovery - Why AI is making N-of-1 studies imperative—when they’re normally seen as unscientific - The case for big tech to open-source their data for scientific research - The power of unbundling data and interpretations, in science and media This is a must-watch for anyone interested in how AI is changing the future of scientific research. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps: Introduction: (00:00:59) Everything Alice learned about growing an AI startup: (00:04:50) Alice’s thesis about how AI can augment human intelligence: (00:09:08) Whether chat is the best way for humans to interface with AI: (00:12:47) Ideas to build an AI model that predicts OCD symptoms: (00:23:55) Why Alice thinks LLMs aren’t the right models to do predictive work: (00:37:12) How AI is broadening the horizons of science: (00:38:39) The new format in which science will be released: (00:40:14) Why AI makes N-of-1 studies more relevant: (00:45:39) The power of separating data from interpretations: (00:50:42) Links to resources mentioned in the episode:   Alice Albrecht: @AliceAlbrecht The company that recently acquired Alice’s startup: SmartNews The piece Alice wrote for Every about how AI can augment human intelligence: The Case for Cyborgs  Every’s product incubations that we discuss in the context of how AI is changing media: Extendable Articles, TLDR

    1 hr

  5. 12/12/2024

    The Secret to Building Sticky AI Products - Ep. 42 with Chris Pedregal

    Chris Pedregal knows how to build AI products that people love. Chris is the cofounder and CEO of Granola, an AI notepad for meetings. We use it all the time at Every—Granola listens in on a meeting and, when it ends, generates notes and a shareable transcript for anyone who missed it.  Granola is one of my favorite consumer AI products because it’s equal parts delightful and useful. So my question for Chris was: How do you do it? How do you make an excellent product in AI?  We spent an hour talking about: How Chris uses intuition while making product decisions  The importance of building products with “soul” How to develop your product thinking muscles When Chris trusts his gut over listening to user feedback    How fewer users gives startups a leg up over big tech Why Chris is bullish on founders building specialized AI tools for professionals This is a must-watch for anyone interested in building valuable, sticky AI products that users will love. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps for Spotify: Introduction (00:00:48) How Chris made early product decisions at Granola (00:09:14) Chris’s philosophy around product development (00:13:36) When to follow your intuition v. listen to your users (00:19:24) How to build a product with “soul” (00:20:40) Chris’s advice on becoming a better product thinker (00:25:12) The role travel plays in shaping Chris’s intuition (00:31:17) Why having fewer users is an advantage for AI startups (00:45:52) Why Chris is bullish on startups building specialized AI tools (00:52:09) Where Chris sees Granola in the next year (00:56:52) Links to resources mentioned in the episode:   Chris Pedregal: @cjpedregal Granola: http://Granola.ai, @meetgranola  The piece Chris wrote for Every about building useful AI products: https://every.to/thesis/how-to-build-a-truly-useful-ai-product

    1h 1m

  6. 04/12/2024

    Do 60-Minute Coding Tasks in 60 Seconds—With AI - Ep. 41 with Steve Krouse

    Here’s the most compelling benchmark of AI progress:  A task that took 60 minutes a year ago now takes 60 seconds. In January 2024, Geoffrey Litt and I spent an hour coaxing ChatGPT and Replit to build an app live on my podcast.12 months later, Steve Krouse and I built the same app with one prompt in less than a minute.  Steve is the cofounder and CEO of Val Town, a cloud-based platform for developers to write, share, and deploy code directly in the browser. We used Townie, Val Town’s AI assistant, to build an app to keep track of time on the podcast, take notes, and generate questions for the guest.   Townie generated the app even before Steve could finish describing it on the show. As we demo Townie, we get into: Why Steve believes programming can rewire the way you think  The rise of the non-technical AI developer and what that means for the future of coding How Townie works under the hood, including the details of the system prompt  How Steve is evolving ValTown’s strategy as AI progress continues to unfold The power of small, dense engineering teams  This is a must-watch for founders building AI-powered developer tools, and anyone interested in the future of programming. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction (00:00:55) How programming changes the way you think (00:03:24) Building an app in less than 60 seconds (00:11:22) How Val Town’s AI assistant works (00:17:19) Steve’s contrarian take on the non-technical AI programmer (00:23:05) The nuances of building software that isn’t deterministic (00:33:38) How to design systems that can capitalize on the next leap in AI (00:39:05) What gives Val Town a competitive edge in a crowded market (00:40:47) The power of small, dense engineering teams (00:47:34) How Steve is positioning Val Town in a strategic niche (00:52:26) Links to resources mentioned in the episode:  Steve Krouse: https://stevekrouse.com/, @stevekrouse  Val Town: https://www.val.town/  Townie, the AI assistant integrated into Val Town: https://www.val.town/townie/signup?next=%2Ftownie  Pieces on Val Town’s blog about how the team built Townie: How we built Townie—an app that generates fullstack apps, Building a code-writing robot and keeping it happy   The book by Seymour Papert about how programming changes the way you think: Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas

    1h 1m

  7. 27/11/2024

    How We Incubate and Launch New Products With AI - Ep. 40 with Danny Aziz, Brandon Gell

    Over the last few months at Every, we’ve: Launched two AI products Acquired tens of thousands of users Released a new incubation in private alpha The weird thing is: We’re a media company with 10 full-time employees, and we’re mostly bootstrapped. That’s not how things are supposed to work in startups. When we started our product incubation arm six months ago, many people told us it wouldn’t work: divided focus, not enough money, and the biggest one—it would be too hard to find talented people to run the products we build. Yesterday, we proved out one of the biggest risks to our strategy: We launched a brand-new version of our AI product Spiral (https://spiral.computer) with Danny Aziz as GM—who left a $200K salary to join us.  The question is: Why? Why did he join us, and why is the model working when it “shouldn’t” be? That’s why I invited Danny and Brandon Gell, Every’s head of Studio, on the show. We get into the details of Every’s business model, what makes our flywheel turn, where each of us sees ourselves one year from now, and what happens when you mix media, software, and AI under one roof. This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to build a business on their own terms, and have a lot of fun while doing it.  If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:08 All about Spiral, the tool we recently launched: 00:02:15 Why Danny left a $200,000 salary to work at a bootstrapped media company: 00:04:06 How we do a lot of things well at Every: 00:10:33 What makes Every’s flywheel turn: 00:14:44 The kind of people who fit right in at Every: 00:17:11 How Every is differentiated from a standard VC-backed startup: 00:23:25 How Danny found his way into the world of startups: 00:36:11 The tech industry’s affinity for potential over experience: 00:46:43  Where each of us sees ourselves in the next one year: 00:52:38 Links to resources mentioned in the episode:  Danny Aziz: @DannyAziz97 Brandon Gell: @bran_don_gell Try Spiral here: https://spiral.computer/   More about Every’s product incubation arm: https://every.to/p/introducing-every-studio

    1h 1m

  8. 20/11/2024

    His GPT Wrapper Has Half a Million Users—And Keeps Growing - Ep. 39 with Vicente Silveira

    Everyone told Vicente Silveira that his startup—a GPT wrapper—would fail.  Instead, one year later, it’s thriving—with about 500,000 registered users, nearly 3,000 paying subscribers, and over 2 million conversations in the GPT store.  Vicente is the cofounder and CEO of AI PDF, a tool that can help you summarize, chat with, and organize your PDF files. When OpenAI allowed users to upload PDFs to ChatGPT, the consensus was that his startup, and all the other GPT wrappers out there, were toast.  Some of his competitors even shut shop, but Vicente believed they could still create value for users as a specialized tool. The AI PDF team kept building.  A year later, AI PDF is one of the most popular AI-powered PDF readers in the world—and they did it all with a five-person team, and a friends and family round.  I sat down with Vicente to understand, in granular detail, the success of AI PDF. We get into: Why staying small and specialized is a bigger advantage than you think The power of building with your early adopters Why lean startups are better positioned than frontier AI companies to create radical solutions  When a growing startup should think about raising venture capital The emerging role of ‘AI managers’ who will be responsible for overseeing AI agents  We even demo an agent integrated into AI PDF, prompting it to analyze recent articles from my column Chain of Thought and write a bulleted list of the core thesis statements. This is a must-watch for small teams building profitable companies at the bleeding edge of AI.  If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe  Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper  Timestamps: Introduction: (00:00:35) AI PDF’s story begins with an email to OpenAI’s Greg Brockman: (00:02:58) Why users choose AI PDF over ChatGPT: (00:05:41) How to compete—and thrive—as a GPT wrapper: (00:06:58) Why building with early adopters is key: (00:20:49) Being small and specialized is your biggest advantage: (00:27:53) When should AI startups raise capital: (00:31:47) The emerging role of humans who will manage AI agents: (00:34:53) Why AI is different from other tech revolutions: (00:45:25) A live demo of an agent integrated into AI PDF: (00:54:01)

    1h 3m
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About

Learn how the smartest people in the world are using AI to think, create, and relate. Each week I interview founders, filmmakers, writers, investors, and others about how they use AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney in their work and in their lives. We screen-share through their historical chats and then experiment with AI live on the show. Join us to discover how AI is changing how we think about our world—and ourselves. For more essays, interviews, and experiments at the forefront of AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought?sort=newest.

Information

  • Creator
    Dan Shipper
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    47
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dan Shipper
  • Show Website
    AI and I

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