Speaker 1
I think there's also a dynamic of like tech has historically been feared. But there is a difference between fear and hatred or like trying to take something down. And I do think there's a dynamic that tech, especially in the last two decades, really since the internet became sizable, is now one of the biggest industries in the world. And I've seen this throughout my career, even like working at companies when something goes from being the underdog to the top dog, there is just a very human response to be like, I don't like this. Yeah, yeah, like screw this thing that I used to root for, I no longer care for. And so I think there is definitely a dynamic there. And again, like that married with the fact that like imagine that you don't like something, but you also don't know why it works. You don't know what is like getting this flywheel to spin so fast and make all these people so much money. And that's why you also get these complex dynamics. Like the same people who are saying like screw Jeff Bezos are tweeting on their iPhone with prime subscriptions, right? Like who all subscribe to Netflix and like I understand the concerns and like you said, Cortland, there are there are things to consider as these technologies get bigger. They are more impactful. Therefore, like things that maybe didn't matter as much now do matter more because they're touching billions of people. But that does not mean technology is bad. And I still quite frankly stand by this idea that technology is a tool. And so like even though it's more complex, like if you were to apply the thinking that many people have to other tools, like traditional tools, it wouldn't stand. And I think yeah, maybe this is also where education comes into play. Because even if you take the truly pessimistic view that technology is bad, that still can't quite be squared with the fact that, technology progresses forward regardless. And so the same questions happening around AI right now are very complex. And there's a lot of great questions being asked. But a lot of them are being asked in the frame of like, drawing some sort of arbitrary stop line. And I just, yeah, it just, like that has never historically happened. Maybe some people are comparing elements of it to nuclear, but our best way to solve our biggest problems has always been technology. And that always creates some new problems. But that those are always also solved with technology. And I think it's actually really inspiring, especially at A16Z. Because I'm covering, you know what trends we're talking about again, like some tiny subreddit here or like some business that someone can start, you know, that makes a couple million dollars. But at A16Z, I get to see just massive change. And like there are certain industries that like, it's funny. Are you guys to live in SF or?
Speaker 1
noticed on the ground because I'm now an SF as well from Ryan Peterson, who were like, all these people were complaining that autonomous vehicles like they're coming, they're coming, they're never coming. And now that they're here, because they're on the ground, people don't care at all.