In 'Don’t Trust Your Gut,' Seth Stephens-Davidowitz uses extensive datasets to uncover surprising and effective strategies for life’s biggest self-help puzzles. The book reveals how data from sources like dating profiles, tax records, and career trajectories contradict our instincts and offer practical, data-driven advice on topics such as finding a mate, raising children, and achieving career success. It emphasizes the importance of relying on hard facts and figures rather than gut instincts for making smarter decisions.
In this book, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz argues that while people lie in various social interactions, they are surprisingly honest when searching the internet. He uses big data from Google searches and other online activities to uncover insights into human behavior, including aspects such as racism, sex lives, parental preferences, and the impact of violent media. The book highlights the power and limitations of big data, discussing its potential to reveal deep-seated biases and improve our understanding of human nature, while also warning about its ethical implications and potential for manipulation.
Seth-Stephens Davidowitz wrote a book in 30 days—and he did it with ChatGPT.
Seth is a data scientist, economist, and author who challenged himself to write a book—Who Makes the NBA?—in less than 1 month after realizing how fast he could work by using ChatGPT plugin Advanced Data Analysis.
But along the way he discovered something else: Writing with AI wasn’t just faster, it was also way more fun.
Seth outsourced the boring parts of data analysis—like cleaning data, merging files, and looking up code snippets—to AI. This left him to focus on what he loves: thinking up questions to ask the dataset.
In a world where AI can answer any question humans know the answer to, asking the right questions is becoming increasingly important—a skill Seth isn’t just really good at, but also finds joy in.
In this episode, Seth walks me through how he used AI to analyze data and write a book in 30 days. We get into:
- How to create and edit complex charts with AI in seconds
- Using ChatGPT to brainstorm creative ideas
- How AI is redefining who can be an artist
- Why ChatGPT is an excellent tool to get a quick ballpark estimate
- Developing a sixth sense about when ChatGPT is wrong
- The power of AI instantly answering hard questions that would normally take months of research
We also use ChatGPT to analyze a dataset of Olympic athletes live on the show—in pursuit of finding out which sport I’m best suited for!
This episode is a must-watch for anyone curious about data science and how AI is transforming the future of creativity (or who is just a fan of the NBA).
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Links to resources mentioned in the episode:
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz: https://twitter.com/SethS_D http://sethsd.com
Seth’s books: Who Makes the NBA? , Everybody Lies and Don’t Trust Your Gut
AI and I 
