Reflections on Societal Pressures and Time Horizons

Former OpenAI Research Scientist Joel Lehman joins to discuss the non-linear nature of technological progress and the present day implications of his book, Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned.

Joel co-authored the book with Kenneth Stanley back in 2015. The two did ML research at OpenAI, Uber, and the University of Central Florida and wrote the book based on insights from their work.

We discuss:

• AI time horizons, and the Implications for investors, researchers, and entrepreneurs
• Exploration vs exploitation for AI startups and researchers, and where to fit in differential bets to avoid direct competition
• The stepping stones that will be crucial for AGI
• Whether startups should be training models or focusing on the AI application layer
• Whether to focus on scaling out transformers or to take alternative bets
• Is venture money going to the wrong place?