In this engaging conversation, Shir Yehoshua, engineering lead of Notion AI with a rich background at Google and Waymo, shares her journey into the world of artificial intelligence. She delves into how AI is revolutionizing workplace productivity by streamlining performance reviews and enhancing communication through tools like Slack. Shir explores the delicate balance of risk and reward in innovation, emphasizing the importance of celebrating failures as learning opportunities. Discover how Notion fosters a culture of experimentation that fuels continuous improvement.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Early AI Fascination
Shir Yehoshua's interest in AI began with a childhood experience at Apple's "Take Your Kid to Work Day".
She saw a speech-to-text demo and was fascinated by the potential of talking to computers.
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Building Google Assistant Actions
At Google, Shir Yehoshua built an action for Google Assistant that allowed users to add calendar events by voice.
This complex action, involving follow-up questions, was later easily replicated with LLMs, highlighting their power.
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Joining Notion
Shir Yehoshua joined Notion because she was impressed by its flexibility and ability to translate her thoughts into a digital format.
She wanted to transition from purely technical roles to learn about product development.
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Join us as we chat with Shir, the engineering lead of Notion AI, about her journey into AI, from her early fascination with Apple's speech-to-text technology to her impactful contributions at Google and Waymo. Shir shares insights into her current role at Notion, the innovative AI projects she's leading, and the unique culture of experimentation and failure that drives product development. Discover how AI drafts performance reviews in minutes, celebrates code deletion in team demos, and integrates seamlessly with Slack to provide precise answers. Plus, learn about innovative tools like the AI writer that helps overcome writer’s block and enables effortless content creation. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Notion's unique culture fosters innovation and continuous improvement.
Learn how Notion leverages AI to enhance productivity, creativity, and collaboration, and get inspired by Shir's perspectives on the future of AI.
00:00 Introduction to Shir and AI Journey 00:47 Early Fascination with AI 01:36 Career at Google and Voice Search 03:43 Transition to Waymo and Challenges 05:11 Joining Notion and Initial Impressions 06:09 Adopting AI at Notion 11:55 Internal Use and Impact of AI 15:12 Challenges and Innovations in AI Integration 20:05 Monitoring and Feedback Mechanisms 22:39 Strength and Flexibility in Product Development 23:44 Exploration vs. Exploitation Phases 24:47 Speed Enables Quality 27:50 Overcoming Sunk Cost Fallacy 30:36 Celebrating Failures and Learning 33:11 The Future of AI and Creativity 34:44 Practical Uses of AI in Daily Work 38:04 The Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction 41:02 Final Thoughts and Reflections
Beyond The Prompt - How to use AI in your company