AI & I

Dan Shipper

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. 23H AGO

    Claude Code Can Be Your Second Brain

    Noah Brier uses Claude Code as his second brain—it’s the coolest notetaking setup we’ve ever seen. He has Claude running on a server in his basement hooked up to a VPN. It stores, reads, and writes to thousands of notes in his Obsidian vault. He does it all from his phone. We had him on the show to tell us exactly how he’s pulling this off.  Dan and Noah get into: The nuts and bolts of the Claude Code-Obsidian setup: Noah set up Claude Code on top of his Obsidian root directory, and he walked me through how he uses it to prep for an upcoming speech—creating a project folder, pulling in relevant research from his notes, saving transcripts from chats with other LLMs, and generating daily progress updates.The “thinking partner” that lives inside Noah’s second brain: Noah points out that in the hype around AI’s ability to write, the fact that it can read is overlooked. That’s why he has an agent inside Claude Code with strict guardrails to stay in “thinking mode.” It logs his questions, tracks insights, and catches him up on research if he returns to a project after a few days away.How Noah does deep work on his phone: Noah rigged a home server in his basement, put his Obsidian vault in it—and then runs Claude Code on top. Noah says that being able to think, write, research, and ship code from his phone has fundamentally changed the way he works.This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about who wants to learn how to use Claude Code to build a true second brain. 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:  00:01:19 - Introduction 00:04:28 - How you can do deep work on your phone 00:06:14 - Why Noah thinks Grok has the best voice AI 00:11:39 - The nuts and bolts of Noah’s Claude Code-Obsidian setup 00:23:59 - Using an agent in Claude Code as a “thinking partner” 00:35:07 - Noah’s Thomas’ English Muffin theory of AI 00:44:04 - The white space still left to explore in AI 00:50:41 - How Noah is preparing his kids for AI 01:01:54 - How he brought his Claude Code setup to mobile Links to resources mentioned in the episode: Noah Brier: ⁠https://www.noahbrier.com/⁠, ⁠Noah Brier (@heyitsnoah) / X⁠Alephic, his AI strategy consultancy: ⁠alephic.com⁠ The conference he leads about marketing and AI: ⁠http://BRXND.AI⁠ A newsletter he writes about AI: ⁠newsletter.brxnd.ai⁠  The declassified relic from World War II they talk about: ⁠Simple Sabotage Field Manual⁠ The apps Noah used to set up Claude Code on his phone: ⁠Termius⁠, ⁠Tailscale⁠

    1h 12m

  2. SEP 3

    This AI Makes a Video Game World in 40 Milliseconds

    We had ⁠Dean Leitersdorf⁠ on the pod and he did something no guest had ever done. Mid-sentence, he transformed from a startup founder in a black t-shirt to a wizard with light shooting from his hands. Then, he was in a white-walled game universe, and when he picked up the tissue box on his table, it morphed into a gun which he could shoot by moving his arm. He did it with one of his products, ⁠Mirage⁠: It takes any live video feed (like Dean on the pod) and instantly renders each frame into a new style of your choosing—40 milliseconds from input to output. Dean is the co-founder and CEO of the creators of ⁠Decart⁠ which makes Mirage. They recently raised $100 million at a $3.1 billion valuation to build a new era of real-time generative AI experiences like this. Realtime generative video models are going to change video games forever, and Dean is on the forefront: imagine creating endless variations on existing titles, like GTA-V with a frigid winter filter, or taking a bare-bones vibe-coded prototype and using Mirage to texture it.  But games are just the beginning, Dean sees Mirage as opening the door to a new medium, a new experience created by AI.  In this episode, we take a look at how Mirage works under the hood, and what the Decart team learned about the future of software while wrestling with its toughest research problems. We also debate AGI—how close it really is, what counts as progress, and what kind of society it might create. This episode is a must watch for anyone interested in the future of gaming, creativity, or if you just want your mind blown by what’s already possible.  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: 00:00:47A demo of Mirage, the first real-time video-to-video model in the world: 00:02:38How Mirage can take your vibe-coded game to the next level: 00:06:22The new architecture of modern software: 00:08:45How Mirage works so blazingly fast: 00:16:34Inside Decart’s invention of a new “live stream diffusion” model: 00:20:33Solving the error accumulation problem for real-time video: 00:21:17How Dean thinks about inventing a new creative medium: 00:29:55Dean’s take on the post-AGI world: 00:39:43Why AI brings back the age of the generalist: 00:51:15 Links to resources mentioned in the episode: Dean Leitersdorf: @DLeitersdorfDecart: ⁠https://about.decart.ai/⁠ Try Mirage and Delulu: ⁠https://mirage.decart.ai/⁠, ⁠https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.decart.delulu⁠, ⁠https://apps.apple.com/il/app/delulu-by-decart/id6749955738⁠  More about Yan LeCun’s error accumulation problem: ⁠https://x.com/ylecun/status/1640123182983045120⁠

    1h 5m

  3. AUG 27

    Best of the Pod: How to Prepare for AGI According to Reid Hoffman

    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 crucialIn new technology waves, NO blueprint or plan will have the right answers. Instead, adapting to new technology requires broad access, an experimental mindset, and flexibilityIn an AGI world most jobs will transform, not disappear—and how you can prepare with hands-on trial and errorHow certain social norms and ethics should change as AGI changes the landscape—like individual access to personal dataWhy 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-.... 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:   / danshipper Sponsor:Attio is the AI-native CRM built for the next era of companies. With Attio, setup takes minutes. Connect your email and calendar, and it instantly builds a CRM that mirrors your business. Go to https://www.⁠⁠⁠⁠attio.com/every to get 15% off on your first year. Timestamps:00:00:00 — Episode Start00:01:29 — Introduction00:02:50 — Patterns in how we've historically adopted technology00:07:02 — Why humans have typically been fearful of new technologies00:13:25 — How Reid developed his own sense of agency00:20:08 — The way Reid thinks about making investment decisions00:22:00 — Attio: Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://attio.com/every⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.00:29:40 — AI as a "techno-humanist" compass00:35:30 — How to prepare yourself for the way AI will change knowledge work00:41:39 — Why equitable access to AI is important00:45:15 — Reid's take on why private commons will be beneficial for society00:47:23 — How AI is making Silicon Valley's conception of the "quantified self" a reality00:52:14 — The shift from symbolic to sub-symbolic AI mirrors how we understand intelligence01:03:29 — Reid's new book, Superagency Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Reid Hoffman: @reidhoffman Superagency, Reid’s newest book: https://www.superagency.ai/

    1h 10m

  4. AUG 20

    Best of the Pod: She Built an AI Product Manager Bringing in Six Figures—As A Side Hustle

    **Automate 80% of your repetitive writing, thinking, and creative tasks****Try Spiral made by Dan Shipper & Every: https://spiral.computer?utm_source=youtube** Claire Vo built ChatPRD—an on-demand chief product officer powered by AI. It’s now used by over 10,000 product managers and is pulling in six figures in revenue.  The best part? Claire has a demanding day job as the CPO at LaunchDarkly. So she built all of ChatPRD herself—over the weekend—with AI. I sat down with Claire to talk about how ChatPRD works, how she built it as a side hustle using AI, and all of the ways she’s using AI tools to accelerate her work and life.  We get into: - How she used AI to build ChatPRD over Thanksgiving break- The part of product management that Claire thinks AI will disrupt- Why the PMs of tomorrow will be “proto-managers” who create prototypes rather than just specs- How junior PMs can use AI to upskill faster- The ways in which ChatPRD is baked into her own workflow- How building ChatPRD is making Claire a better PM- How Claire uses AI as a tech-forward parent This is a must-watch for anyone interested in turning their side hustle into a thriving business or who works in product. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Thanks to Google and LTX Studio for sponsoring this episode! The Gemini 2.5 family of models is now generally available. 2.5 Pro, the most advanced model, is great for reasoning over complex tasks; next up, 2.5 Flash finds the sweet spot between performance and price; and finally, 2.5 Flash Lite is ideal for low-latency, high-volume tasks. Start building in Google AI Studio at ⁠https://ai.dev/⁠ LTX Studio is helping storytellers go from concept to delivery in one seamless platform. Whether you're storyboarding your next film, prototyping ad concepts, or creating pixel-ready assets, LTX Studio allows you to fully realize your imaginations. Check them out here: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/2d5nx3ut⁠ 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 Links to resources mentioned in the episode:- Claire Vo: https://x.com/clairevo; @chiefproductofficer- ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/; https://x.com/chatprd; https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatprd/; https://www.youtube.com/@ChatPRD    - Some of the AI tools that Claire used to build ChatPRD: http://Clerk.dev; https://tiptap.dev/ - Greeking Out, the Greek mythology podcast that Claire’s son enjoys: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/greeking-out

    1h 7m

  5. AUG 13 · BONUS

    Best of the Pod: Vercel's Guillermo Rauch on AI and the Future of Coding

    Read Dan Shipper's essay on the allocation economy: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/the-knowledge-economy-is-over-welcome-to-the-allocation-economy Guillermo Rauch is one of the most prolific coders of this generation.  But he doesn’t think of himself as a coder anymore.  Coding, he says, is a specific skill that AI is becoming great at. Instead, he thinks the future of coding is more holistic, full-stack engineers who can ideate, design, and execute all together.  Guillermo is the founder and CEO of Vercel, the creator of NextJS, and SocketIO. We spent an hour talking about the future of software development in an AI world—and the meta-skills that are essential for the coders of today to master—in order to use tomorrow’s tools to their fullest extent. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Sponsors: LTX Studio is helping storytellers go from concept to delivery in one seamless platform. Whether you're storyboarding your next film, prototyping ad concepts, or creating pixel-ready assets, LTX Studio allows you to fully realize your imaginations. Check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/2d5nx3ut Attio is the AI-native CRM built for the next era of companies. With Attio, setup takes minutes. Connect your email and calendar, and it instantly builds a CRM that mirrors your business. Go to https://www.⁠⁠⁠⁠attio.com/every to get 15% off on your first year. Want even more?Read Dan Shipper's essay on developing taste with AI: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/what-i-do-when-i-can-t-sleep Try Cora to manage your email with AI: https://cora.computerTry Spiral to repurpose content with AI: https://spiral.computerTry Sparkle to organize your files with AI: https://makeitsparkle.co 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 Timestamps00:00:00 - Episode start00:01:33 - Introduction00:03:18 - How to spot trends early00:07:34 - Why you should be your own customer00:14:55 - How to create an ecosystem of talent and ambition00:17:29 - Why Guillermo doesn't identify as a coder00:20:50 - AI is gearing us toward an allocation economy00:28:34 - How Vercel's copilot compares with other coding agents00:40:35 - Guillermo's advice on having better taste00:42:46 - The future of AI agents is specialized00:47:50 - How AI startups can compete with big tech Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Guillermo Rauch: @rauchgVercel: https://vercel.com/ Last week’s episode with Nabeel Hyatt: https://every.to/podcast/the-venture-capitalist-who-only-makes-two-bets-a-yearDan’s essay about the allocation economy: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/the-knowledge-economy-is-over-welcome-to-the-allocation-economy

    58 min
  6. Best of the Pod: Dwarkesh Patel’s Quest to Learn Everything

    JUL 30

    Best of the Pod: Dwarkesh Patel’s Quest to Learn Everything

    Dwarkesh Patel is on a quest to know everything.  He’s using LLMs to enhance how he reads, learns, thinks, and conducts interviews.  Dwarkesh is a podcaster who’s interviewed a wide range of people, like Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Blair, and Marc Andreesen. Before conducting each of these interviews, Dwarkesh learns as much as he can about his guest and their area of expertise—AI hardware, tense geopolitical crises, and the genetics of human origins, to name a few.  The most important tool in his learning arsenal? AI—specifically Claude, Claude Projects, and a few custom tools he’s built to accelerate his workflow. He does this by researching extensively, and as his knowledge grows, each piece of new information builds upon the last, making it easier and easier to grasp meaningful insights.  In this interview, I turn the tables on him to understand how the prolific podcaster uses AI to become a smarter version of himself. We get into: How he uses LLMs to remember everythingHis podcast prep workflow with Claude to understand complex topicsWhy it’s important to be an early adopter of technologyHis taste in books and how he uses LLMs to learn from themHow he thinks about building a worldview His quick takes on the AI’s existential questions—AGI and P(doom) We also use Claude live on the show to help Dwarkesh research for an upcoming podcast recording. This is a must-watch for curious people who want to use AI to become smarter. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share!  Sponsor: Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan. Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-.... 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:   / danshipper    Timestamps:00:00:00 - Teaser00:01:44 - Introduction 00:05:37 - How Dwarkesh uses LLMs to remember everything 00:11:50 - Dwarkesh's taste in books and how he uses AI to learn from them 00:17:58 - Why it's important to be an early adopter of technology 00:20:44 - How Dwarkesh uses Claude to understand complex concepts00:26:36 - Dwarkesh on how you can compound your intelligence 00:28:21 - Why Dwarkesh is on a quest to know everything 00:39:19 - Dan and Dwarkesh prep for an upcoming interview 01:04:14 - How Dwarkesh uses AI for post-production of his podcast 01:08:51 - Rapid fire on AI's biggest questions—AGI and P(doom) Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Dwarkesh Patel:   / dwarkesh_sp  Dwarkesh’s podcast and newsletter: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/; https://substack.com/@dwarkesh Dwarkesh’s interview with researcher Andy Matuschak on spaced repetition: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/andy-... The book about technology and society that both Dan and Dwarkesh are reading: Medieval Technology and Social ChangeDan’s interview with Reid Hoffman: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/rei... The book by Will Durant that inspires Dwarkesh: Fallen Leaves https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Leaves-... One of the most interesting books Dwarkesh has read: The Great Divide https://www.amazon.com/Great-Divide-N...Upcoming guests on Dwarkesh’s podcast: David Reich  https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/ and Daniel Yergin https://www.danielyergin.com/

    50 min
  7. Intentional Tech: Designing AI for Human Flourishing | Alex Komoroske

    JUL 9

    Intentional Tech: Designing AI for Human Flourishing | Alex Komoroske

    The smallest technical decisions become humanity's biggest pivots: The same-origin policy—a well-intentioned browser security rule from the 1990s—accidentally created Facebook, Google, and every data monopoly since. It locks your data in silos—and you stayed where your stuff already is. This dynamic created aggregators. Alex Komoroske—who led Chrome's web platform team at Google and ran corporate strategy at Stripe—saw this pattern play out firsthand. And he's obsessed with the tiny decisions that will shape AI's next 30 years: Whether AI keeps memory centrally or user-controlled? Is AI free/ad-supported or user-paid? Should AI be engagement-maximizing or intention-aligned? How should we handle prompt injection in MCP and agentic systems? Should AI be built with AOL-style aggregation or web-style openness? This is a much-watch if you care about the future of AI and humanity. 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 Sponsors: Google Gemini: Experience high quality AI video generation with Google's most capable video model: Veo 3. Try it in the Gemini app at gemini.google with a Google AI Pro plan or get the highest access with the Ultra plan. Attio: Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://attio.com/every⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM. Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:45Why chatbots are a feature not a paradigm: 00:04:25Toward AI that’s aligned with our intentions: 00:06:50The four pillars of “intentional technology”: 00:11:54The type of structures in which intentional technology can thrive: 00:14:16Why ChatGPT is the AOL of the AI era: 00:18:26Why AI needs to break out of the silos of the early internet: 00:25:55Alex’s personal journey into systems-thinking: 00:41:53How LLMs can encode what we know but can’t explain: 00:48:15Can LLMs solve the coordination problem inside organizations: 00:54:35The under-discussed risk of prompt injection: 01:01:39Links to resources mentioned in the episode: Alex Komoroske: @komoramaCommon Tools: https://common.tools/ The public Google document with Alex’s raw ideas and thoughts: Bits and BobsA couple of Alex’s favorite books: Why Information Grows by Cesar Hidalgo and The Origin of Wealth by Eric Beinhocker

    1h 12m
  8. Arc Had Millions of Users. Why They Left It Behind for Dia. | Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company

    JUL 2

    Arc Had Millions of Users. Why They Left It Behind for Dia. | Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company

    If you had millions of people using a product you spent years building, would you kill it? That’s exactly what The Browser Company did with Arc. The internet backlash was intense, but cofounders Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal saw that AI was about to make the web something you talk to, not just click into. The best home for that assistant was the thing that's already between you and the internet—the browser. And they realized they couldn’t just duct-tape it on to Arc. One year of heads-down work later, the team launched Dia in beta, and people are raving about it. Dia is a sleek, fast, browser with AI at its core—it gets better with every tab you open, becoming more and more helpful with time.  And even though it’s still early, Josh and Hursh’s big pivot looks like one for the ages. This week on AI & I, Josh and Hursh joined me for their first full-length podcast about their pivot from Arc to Dia. We talk through their decision-making process, the very public backlash the company faced, and the grit it took to stay the course.  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 Sponsor:Attio: Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://attio.com/every⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM. Timestamps: Introduction: 00:01:13The story of how Dan might’ve been the CEO of The Browser Company: 00:02:47The moment Josh and Hursh knew they had to walk away from Arc: 00:09:42How to handle the weight of the unknown in a pivot: 00:17:08The prototype-driven culture that kept The Browser Company alive: 00:23:31Why having a product loved by millions of users isn’t enough :00:25:42The architectural decisions underlying how Dia was built: 00:33:29How Dia almost shipped without its best feature: 00:47:12The best ways people are using Dia in the wild: 00:51:18How Josh and Hursh think about competing with incumbents: 01:07:55How romanticism informs the product decisions behind Dia: 01:17:04Links to resources mentioned in the episode: Hursh Agrawal: @hurshJosh Miller: @joshmMore about Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/ Writer and investor M.G. Siegler’s essay about the AI browser wars: https://spyglass.org/ai-browser-wars/

    1h 25m
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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
    76
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Dan Shipper
  • Show Website
    AI & I

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