The Valmy Unknown

Podcast: Conversations with Tyler Episode: Peter Thiel on Political TheologyRelease date: 2024-04-17In this conversation recorded live in Miami, Tyler and Peter Thiel dive deep into the complexities of political theology, including why it’s a concept we still need today, why Peter’s against Calvinism (and rationalism), whether the Old Testament should lead us to be woke, why Carl Schmitt is enjoying a resurgence, whether we’re entering a new age of millenarian thought, the one existential risk Peter thinks we’re overlooking, why everyone just muddling through leads to disaster, the role of the katechon, the political vision in Shakespeare, how AI will affect the influence of wordcels, Straussian messages in the Bible, what worries Peter about Miami, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded February 21st, 2024.
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Podcast: Making Sense with Sam Harris Episode: #361 — Sam Bankman-Fried & Effective AltruismRelease date: 2024-04-01Sam Harris speaks with William MacAskill about the implosion of FTX and the effect that it has had on the Effective Altruism movement. They discuss the logic of “earning to give,” the mind of SBF, his philanthropy, the character of the EA community, potential problems with focusing on long-term outcomes, AI risk, the effects of the FTX collapse on Will personally, and other topics.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
 
Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Podcast: Dwarkesh Podcast Episode: Sholto Douglas & Trenton Bricken - How to Build & Understand GPT-7's MindRelease date: 2024-03-28Had so much fun chatting with my good friends Trenton Bricken and Sholto Douglas on the podcast.
No way to summarize it, except: 
This is the best context dump out there on how LLMs are trained, what capabilities they're likely to soon have, and what exactly is going on inside them.
You would be shocked how much of what I know about this field, I've learned just from talking with them.
To the extent that you've enjoyed my other AI interviews, now you know why.
So excited to put this out. Enjoy! I certainly did :)
Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. 
There's a transcript with links to all the papers the boys were throwing down - may help you follow along.
Follow Trenton and Sholto on Twitter.
Timestamps
(00:00:00) - Long contexts
(00:16:12) - Intelligence is just associations
(00:32:35) - Intelligence explosion & great researchers
(01:06:52) - Superposition & secret communication
(01:22:34) - Agents & true reasoning
(01:34:40) - How Sholto & Trenton got into AI research
(02:07:16) - Are feature spaces the wrong way to think about intelligence?
(02:21:12) - Will interp actually work on superhuman models
(02:45:05) - Sholto’s technical challenge for the audience
(03:03:57) - Rapid fire


Get full access to Dwarkesh Podcast at www.dwarkeshpatel.com/subscribe

Podcast: Joe Carlsmith Audio Episode: An even deeper atheismRelease date: 2024-01-11Who isn't a paperclipper?

Text version here: https://joecarlsmith.com/2024/01/11/an-even-deeper-atheism

This essay is part of a series I'm calling "Otherness and control in the age of AGI." I'm hoping that individual essays can be read fairly well on their own, but see here for brief summaries of the essays that have been released thus far: https://joecarlsmith.com/2024/01/02/otherness-and-control-in-the-age-of-agi

Podcast: a16z Podcast Episode: Drones, Data, and Deterrence: Technology's Role in Public SafetyRelease date: 2024-01-10Flock is a public safety technology platform that operates in over 4,000 cities across the United States, and solves about 2,200 crimes daily. That’s 10 percent of reported crimes nationwide.
Taken from a16z’s recent LP Summit, a16z General Partner David Ulevitch  joins forces with Flock Safety’s founder, Garrett Langley and Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Together, they cover the delicate balance between using technology to combat crime and respecting individual privacy, and explore the use of drones and facial recognition, building trust within communities, and the essence of objective policing.
 
Resources: 
Find Garret on Twitter: https://twitter.com/glangley
Find Sheriff McMahill on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Sheriff_LVMPD
Find David on Twitter:https://twitter.com/davidu
Learn more about Flock Safety: https://www.flocksafety.com
 
Stay Updated: 
Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z 
Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z 
Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ 
Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio 
Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Podcast: "The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis Episode: Biden's Executive Order and AI Safety with Flo Crivello, Founder of Lindy AIRelease date: 2023-11-03In this episode, Flo Crivello, founder of Lindy AI, joins Nathan to chat about Biden’s executive order, and the state of AI safety. They discuss Flo’s thoughts on the executive order, building AGI kill switches, self driving cars, and more. If you need an ERP platform, check out our sponsor NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/cognitive.


SPONSORS: Netsuite | Omneky
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NetSuite has 25 years of providing financial software for all your business needs. More than 36,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/cognitive and download your own customized KPI checklist.


Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off.


RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 
Every week investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today’s major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future. Subscribe to “The Riff” with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg: https://link.chtbl.com/theriff




TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Episode Preview
(00:06:42) The natural order of technological progress
(00:07:00) Self driving cars
(00:10:57) Where is Flo accelerationist?
(00:12:34) Artificial intelligence as a new form of life
(00:17:08) - Sponsors: Oracle | Omneky
(00:18:05) Silicon-based intelligence vs carbon-based intelligence
(00:24:36) Executive Order
(00:29:32) How would a GPU kill switch work?
(00:31:24) “Let’s not regulate model development, but applications”
(00:32:08) - Sponsor: Netsuite
(00:36:00) GPT-4 is the most critical component for AGI
(00:38:00) AGI in 2-8 years
(00:39:26) Eureka moment from a general system
(00:48:00) AI research with China
(00:52:00) Does AI have subjective experience? The Mu response


This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.
Producer: Vivian Meng
Executive Producers: Amelia Salyers, and Erik Torenberg
Editor: Graham Bessellieu