Dwarkesh Podcast

Nat Friedman - Reading Ancient Scrolls, Open Source, & AI

Mar 22, 2023

Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO and founder of AI Grant, dives into the thrilling Vesuvius Challenge aimed at decoding ancient Herculaneum scrolls. Each scroll could unlock lost literature from antiquity, including works by Aristotle. He discusses the importance of open source in AI and the transformative effects of GitHub’s acquisition by Microsoft. The conversation also covers the balance between innovation and improvement in tech, along with the economic impact of AI on job markets and the need for responsible development.

01:38:23

Creator website

Episode guests

Nat Friedman

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

The Future Belongs to the Autists

01:20

Microsoft's Strategic Acquisition of GitHub

01:03

The Power of Impulsiveness

01:19

The Smart Incumbents

02:05

Intro

4min

Unearthing the Past: Decoding Ancient Scrolls

26min

Wealth, Enthusiasm, and Efficiency in Society

11min

Navigating GitHub's Acquisition Journey

16min

The Future of Online Profiles and Open Source Dynamics

15min

Innovation vs. Improvement: The Tech Dilemma

7min

Empowering Leadership vs. Micromanagement

4min

AI's Economic Transformation

10min

Reflections on Achievement and Forward Momentum

2min

10.

Exploring the Balance Between AI Alignment and Capabilities

4min

It is said that the two greatest problems of history are: how to account for the rise of Rome, and how to account for her fall. If so, then the volcanic ashes spewed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD - which entomb the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in South Italy - hold history’s greatest prize. For beneath those ashes lies the only salvageable library from the classical world.

Nat Friedman was the CEO of Github form 2018 to 2021. Before that, he started and sold two companies - Ximian and Xamarin. He is also the founder of AI Grant and California YIMBY.

And most recently, he has created and funded the Vesuvius Challenge - a million dollar prize for reading an unopened Herculaneum scroll for the very first time. If we can decipher these scrolls, we may be able to recover lost gospels, forgotten epics, and even missing works of Aristotle.

We also discuss the future of open source and AI, running Github and building Copilot, and why EMH is a lie.

Watch on YouTube. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Read the full transcript here. Follow me on Twitter for updates on future episodes.

Timestamps

(0:00:00) - Vesuvius Challenge

(0:30:00) - Finding points of leverage

(0:37:39) - Open Source in AI

(0:40:32) - Github Acquisition

(0:50:18) - Copilot origin Story

(1:11:47) - Nat.org

(1:32:56) - Questions from Twitter

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