The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Spending $2M to Train a Single AI Model: What Matters More; Model Size or Data Size | Hallucinations: Feature or Bug | Will Everyone Have an AI Friend in the Future & Raising $150M from a16z with Noam Shazeer, Co-Founder & CEO @ Character.ai

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Aug 31, 2023

Noam Shazeer, co-founder and CEO of Character.AI, is a celebrated computer scientist known for his work in AI and NLP, including his role at Google Brain. He dives into the critical balance between model size and data size, questioning their true value in the evolving AI landscape. Shazeer shares insights on barriers to AI, his journey at Google, and the unique role startups can play amidst larger corporations. He also contemplates the future of AI, emphasizing the importance of fostering real human connections through technology.

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ANECDOTE

Spelling Corrector

Noam Shazeer's first Google project was improving Google's spelling corrector.
The old system, using a 50,000-word dictionary, was unsuitable for the diversity of web searches.

ADVICE

Broad Applicability

Launch general technologies with broad applicability to a wide audience.
Prioritize direct-to-consumer approaches for maximum reach and impact.

INSIGHT

AI's Leverage

Noam Shazeer is motivated by pushing technology forward to solve global problems.
He believes AI can have greater leverage in solving problems like disease than direct research.

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Noam Shazeer is the co-founder and CEO of Character.AI, a full-stack AI computing platform that gives people access to their own flexible superintelligence. A renowned computer scientist and researcher, Shazeer is one of the foremost experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP). He is a key author for the Transformer, a revolutionary deep learning model enabling language understanding, machine translation, and text generation that has become the foundation of many NLP models. A former member of the Google Brain team, Shazeer led the development of spelling corrector capabilities within Gmail, the algorithm at the heart of AdSense.

In Today's Episode with Noam Shazeer We Discuss:

1. Entry into the World of AI and NLP:

How did Noam first make his way into the world of AI and come to work on spell corrector with Google?
What are 1-2 of his biggest takeaways from spending 20 years at Google?
What does Noam know now that he wishes he had known when he started Character?

2. Model Size or Data Size:

What is more important, the size of the data or the size of the model?
Does Noam agree that "we will not use models in a year that we have today?" What is the lifespan of a model?
Does Noam agree that the companies that win are those that are able to switch between models with the most ease?
With the majority of data being able to be downloaded from the internet, is there real value in data anymore?

3. The Biggest Barriers:

What is the single biggest barrier to Character today?
What are the most challenging elements of model training? Why did they need to spend $2M to train an early model?
What are the most difficult elements of releasing a horizontal product with so many different use cases?
Where does the value accrue in the race for AI dominance; startups or incumbents?

4. AI's Role on Society:

Why does Noam believe that AI can create greater not worse human connections?
Why is Noam not concerned by the speed of adoption of AI tools?
What does Noam know about AI's impact on society that the world does not see?