It doesn’t matter if AI scares you, it’s inevitable
Oct 14, 2024
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Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor, co-founders of Venice, discuss their vision for an open-source AI chatbot. They compare AI to Bitcoin, emphasizing its potential and the risks of centralized models. The conversation covers the debate between open-source and proprietary AI, touching on censorship and user freedoms. Privacy issues in AI interactions are explored alongside economic implications of AI agents. They advocate for user awareness and the need for a balanced regulatory approach to navigate these evolving technologies.
Venice's founders advocate for a decentralized and censorship-free AI platform to counter the risks posed by centralized control.
The conversation highlights the importance of fostering collaboration between humans and AI to enhance creativity and mitigate job displacement concerns.
Deep dives
The Vision Behind Venice
The founders of Venice were motivated by the intersection of AI and crypto, aiming to create a permissionless and uncensored AI application. They were inspired by their experiences with AI tools like MidJourney and ChatGPT, which highlighted the risks of centralized control over artificial intelligence. Their background in the crypto space brought principles of decentralization and open-source development into the AI realm, revealing a gap for a private and censorship-free AI solution. This realization spurred the development of Venice, which was launched to facilitate user control over AI interactions.
User Experience and Concerns
Adoption of AI technology faces unique challenges compared to cryptocurrency, especially due to public apprehension around its implications. Users find AI more materially new and potentially intimidating compared to crypto's understanding of financial transactions. The founders expressed a view that embracing AI tools could enhance creativity and improve job performance, while highlighting societal concerns around job displacement and the quality of work. They suggest fostering a collaborative relationship between humans and AI, focusing on augmenting rather than replacing human efforts.
The Implications of AI Control
A significant concern with AI development is the potential concentration of control by a few large companies or governments, leading to a lack of diversity in AI perspectives and use. The founders emphasized that the real danger lies not in AI itself but in the power it grants those who control it, particularly in governmental contexts. Human interference and control may lead to more substantial threats than AI, which has not yet caused direct harm. Advocating for decentralization, they argue that a plurality of approaches to AI is necessary to mitigate these risks and maintain ethical oversight.
Future Developments and Economic Perspectives
Looking ahead, Venice aims to maintain a user-focused approach while rapidly adapting to advancements in AI technologies and market demands. The future may see AI agents participating as economic entities, further complicating the interaction between humans, AI, and the economy. Subscriptions and evolving APIs are planned to enhance accessibility for users, including businesses with strict confidentiality needs. Ultimately, the founders envision Venice as a pivotal player in enabling creative expression and preserving user autonomy in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.
Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor are co-founders of Venice, an open-source and uncensored AI chatbot and content generation platform.
In this episode, the Venice co-founders discuss the vision and approach of their product in contrast to more restrictive and centralized AI models like ChatGPT.
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Origin of Venice AI
02:37 'AI is like Bitcoin but scarier'
07:29 Proprietary AI Models
09:12 Regulatory Inefficiencies
11:16 Global AI Regulatory Regimes
16:46 AI Censorship
20:11 Moderation on Venice
25:01 Freedom vs Privacy
34:11 Venice Pricing Model
36:35 AI Agents
39:44 AI 'Rights'
50:37 Venice Roadmap
54:10 Closing Thoughts
This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Polkadot
Polkadot is the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation. To discover more, head to polkadot.network
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