PyJamas Pillow Talk PJ (Poh Jie)

My guest today is John Yang. He is a 16 year old currently building 小K.AI, a friendly chatbot that helps to create high-quality learning environments for left-behind children in rural China at scale. We discussed a wide variety of topics, including why John believes we will attain AGI in 5-10    years, his learning process, and building a non-profit AI bot by himself. Please enjoy the show.


Show Notes
[2:00] John’s self-introduction

[3:33] Forming a tribe of peers who inspire ourselves

[8:51] Self-directed learning and meta-learning skills

[20:25] Growing up in multiple cities, formative childhood experiences and maturing

[29:27] Finding a balance between creativity and effectiveness

[34:55] Validating macro frameworks

[38:17] The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin （三體系列-劉慈欣）

[46:50] John's argument for why AGI will be here in the next 5-10 years

[1:08:20] What is artificial intelligence?

[1:17:10] AI ethics and safety

[1:20:08] 小K, and its business and technical aspects (data, model architecture)

[1:38:00] Advice for people who want to build real skills

[1:44:28] Managing both building and selling in day-to-day life


Mentions
小K.AI

The Knowledge Society


Connect
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).


Outro
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you like this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with 1-3 friends. I started this podcast with the intention of having awesome conversations with interesting people, and having your support means a lot. Thank you.


Music credits
Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

My guest today is Elena Hill-Artamonova. She is currently a PhD candidate for psychology at The Manchester Metropolitan University, and has Master of Science in Psychology from University of London and Master of Arts in Political Science from The University of Manchester. As a dyslexic herself, Elena is also passionate about helping other dyslexics excel academically. Please enjoy the show.


Show Notes
[0:39] Elena’s self-introduction

[1:20] Why did Elena choose to go to UK from Russia?

[3:17] Elena’s struggles with expressing herself back in Russia

[7:00] Our cultural background’s influence on our thinking and encouraging children to be independent thinker

[15:42] Is the English or Russian language more beautiful?

[16:57] How does Russia’s rich cultural history permeate through her citizens’ thinking?

[27:55] Three cultural synthesis of Russia

[31:25] Current state of events in Russia, view on China and geopolitics

[43:58] The American Dream and outsiders succeeding in traditional systems

[53:36] How did formal training in disciplines like anthropology and political science influenced Elena’s way of thinking? What was interacting with shamans like?

[1:09:44] Elena’s experience with dyslexia and managing it to excel academically

[1:18:04] Elena’s audio presentation of her research on dark triads and big five personality variables


 
Connect
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).


Outro
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you like this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with 1-3 friends. I started this podcast with the intention of having awesome conversations with interesting people, and having your support means a lot. Thank you.


Music credits
Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

My guest today is Yair Zick. He is an assistant professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore’s School of Computing. He was also a postdoctoral research fellow at Carnegie Mellon University from 2014 to 2016, and completed his PhD at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Please enjoy the show. 


Show Notes
[1:43] Brouwer fixed-point theorem and its relevance to game theory

[5:13] What is algorithmic mechanism design?

[12:28] What are constraints that make division of goods really hard to solve?

[24:57] Utilitarianism, egalitarianism and Nash bargaining solution

[32:40] Pre-requisites for certain conditions in algorithmic mechanism design (e.g. fairness) to hold

[37:30] Why is National University of Singapore’s former module allocation system overly complicated?

[48:52] What is Yair’s research process like? What is sub-modular property in allocation of goods?

[1:01:40] Optimising schedule for productivity

[1:06:30] Current readings

[1:14:14] Thoughts on love and marriage

[1:19:31] Aspirations for his children and parenting philosophy


Mentions
Brouwer fixed-point theorem


Connect
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).


Outro
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you like this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with 1-3 friends. I started this podcast with the intention of having awesome conversations with interesting people, and having your support means a lot. Thank you.


Music credits
Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


 

My guest today is Michael Vawter. He is the co-founder of two businesses- Robot Academy, which is a STEM education centre for kids, and Bleeps and Loops, which promotes and educates electronic music production. Please enjoy the show.


Show Notes
[0:37] Michael’s self-introduction

[1:43] What prompted Michael to take coursework in psychology, organisational studies, economics, computer science and vocal performance at college?

[4:22] Homeschooling and its impact

[8:29] Becoming champion of First Lego League and designing robots

[13:04] Allocation of time for projects in different discipline

[21:57] Morning routines

[23:39] Productivity systems

[25:43] Entrepreneurial projects in college

[27:46] Quitting the first job after a year

[32:39] Why is Michael bearish about the current VC-backed startup model?

[34:49] Adapting business models to Covid-19

[37:43] Modular synthesis and Bleeps and Loops

[45:01] The social media marketing experience for Bleeps and Loops

[48:20] Upbringing and religion

[56:54] Learning photography

[58:57] Balancing both inner voice and outer chatter


Mentions
Michael Vawter's website/Instagram


Michael’s essay on individualism


OmniFocus


Ken Wilber's Integral Theory


Connect
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).


Outro
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you like this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with 1-3 friends. I started this podcast with the intention of having awesome conversations with interesting people, and having your support means a lot. Thank you.


Music credits
Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

My guest today is Ryan McEntush. He has worked at 3 YC startups- Teleport,  Front, and GetAccept. Ryan also interned at Morgan Stanley in his freshman year. He holds a Bachelors in Economics from UC Santa Barbara and writes at his personal blog, A Cruising Voyage. 


Show Notes
[0:32] Making sense of the storming of Capitol and Twitter’s ban of Trump

[8:42] Predictions for social media in the future

[14:00] Who should decide what should be moderated?

[20:21] Should big tech firms be broken up into smaller ones?

[23:20] Is there an optimal size for human organisations?

[27:29] What will an overhaul of the existing systems in US look like?

[29:54] Should we be bullish or bearish about the future of US? The global geopolitical scene

[42:00] Thoughts on the tech exodus from San Francisco (The tech exodus from San Francisco is overrated

My guest today is Jazil Zaim. He is a member of Gen Z Mafia, and has built startups in the space of affiliate marketing, privacy-focused social media app, and is venturing into the e-commerce space. Please enjoy the show.


Show Notes
[1:01] What is Gen Z Mafia? How did Jazil chance upon this online community?

[3:28] Jazil building a new startup

[6:25] Brick and mortar shops and ideas generation

[13:55] Jazil’s information diet and cultivating the right community in life

[18:09] How should people get started in using online communities?

[20:40] Bootstrapped startups

[28:55] Is building a company that captures the majority of a market the main goal of Jazil’s professional life?

[33:38] Tech in a post-COVID world

[35:46] Recent exodus of tech leaders from San Francisco

[37:55] Projecting cities that will be startup hubs in the future

[44:02] Will Singapore’s policies to attract foreign startup talent be effective in encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit among her citizens as well?

[49:48] Can a person really be anything they want to be in the US?

[55:35] Should America be split up?

[1:01:20] How will Jazil define COVID ten years from now?

[1:06:29] What are some particular aspects of tech that Jazil is most bullish about?

[1:07:53] Balaji’s idea of a cloud city

[1:09:48] Jazil’s favourite startup, founder, and person to follow on Twitter 


Connect
If you like to find out more about me, please find me on my personal website at www.pohjie.com, or connect with me on Twitter (@pohjie_pj).


Outro
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you like this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and share this episode with 1-3 friends. I started this podcast with the intention of having awesome conversations with interesting people, and having your support means a lot. Thank you.


Music credits
Shades of Spring by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4342-shades-of-spring

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/