Intro

In this episode, Nathan is joined by James Yu, Founder of Sudowrite, an AI writing tool.They discuss how James started Sudowrite after using GPT-3 for his own fiction writing, how Sudowrite is able to be a supportive writing partner, and Yu's experience developing its tech stack and working through the backlash he's received. f you're looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/cognitive

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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.

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) - Episode Preview

(00:04:28)– How James started using GPT-3 for fiction writing in early beta

(00:08:47) - Using few-shot learning to get good results from early GPT-3

(00:10:25) – Focusing messaging on being a supportive AI writing partner

(00:12:08) – Helping fiction writers feel less lonely through pseudo-conversations with AI

(00:16:01) - Sponsors: Netsuite | Omneky

(00:17:22) - Evolving from paragraph-level assistance to full story understanding

(00:20:19) - Building the product for centaurs: half Human, half AI

(00:32:15) - Using multiple models together to "kitbash" the best outputs

(00:39:21) - Iterating on prompts over time to get a customized "garden"

(00:45:18) - Keeping temperature high for creative writing, but avoiding cliches

(00:54:21) - Separate paths for professional writers vs casual creators

(00:57:30) – The continued role of human-centric art and culture

(01:00:10) - The potential for automation to replace repetitive jobs

(01:07:48) - Yu’s experience launching an AI writing tool and the backlash he received

(01:16:24). - Advice for future AI product launches to avoid or minimize backlash

(01:18:25) - Focusing on delivering value to customers during controversy

(01:28:44) - The idea of an "AI bundle" to reduce churn and customer acquisition costs

(01:42:06) - Recommendations for underrated AI apps - Claude, Pika, Midjourney

The Cognitive Revolution is brought to you by the Turpentine Media network.

Producer: Vivian Meng

Executive Producers: Amelia Salyers, and Erik Torenberg

Editor: Graham Bessellieu

For inquiries about guests or sponsoring the podcast, please email vivian@turpentine.co