In episode 56 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Linus Lee. Linus is an independent researcher interested in the future of knowledge representation and creative work aided by machine understanding of language. He builds interfaces and knowledge tools that expand the domain of thoughts we can think and qualia we can feel. Linus has been writing online since 2014–his blog boasts half a million words–and has built well over 100 side projects. He has also spent time as a software engineer at Replit, Hack Club, and Spensa, and was most recently a Researcher in Residence at Betaworks in New York. Have suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here!Subscribe to The Gradient Podcast:  Apple Podcasts  | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (02:00) Linus’s background and interests, vision-language models* (07:45) Embodiment and limits for text-image* (11:35) Ways of experiencing the world* (16:55) Origins of the handle “thesephist”, languages* (25:00) Math notation, reading papers* (29:20) Operations on ideas* (32:45) Overview of Linus’s research and current work* (41:30) The Oak and Ink languages, programming languages* (49:30) Personal search engines: Monocle and Reverie, what you can learn from personal data* (55:55) Web browsers as mediums for thought* (1:01:30) This AI Does Not Exist* (1:03:05) Knowledge representation and notational intelligence* Notation vs language* (1:07:00) What notation can/should be* (1:16:00) Inventing better notations and expanding human intelligence* (1:23:30) Better interfaces between humans and LMs to provide precise control, inefficiency prompt engineering* (1:33:00) Inexpressible experiences* (1:35:42) Linus’s current work using latent space models* (1:40:00) Ideas as things you can hold* (1:44:55) Neural nets and cognitive computing* (1:49:30) Relation to Hardware Lottery and AI accelerators* (1:53:00) Taylor Swift Appreciation Session, mastery and virtuosity* (1:59:30) Mastery/virtuosity and interfaces / learning curves* (2:03:30) Linus’s stories, the work of fiction* (2:09:00) Linus’s thoughts on writing* (2:14:20) A piece of writing should be focused* (2:16:15) On proving yourself* (2:28:00) OutroLinks:* Linus’s Twitter and website Get full access to The Gradient at thegradientpub.substack.com/subscribe

Linus Lee, AI product leader at Notion, shares insights on language model capabilities and his vision for the future of AI, centered on amplifying human intelligence. He discusses creating innovative interfaces for generative models, editing text and images, and the societal impacts of advancing AI technology. The podcast delves into spatial computing, efficiency and evolution of AI model training, challenges in AI model building, transformations in AI models, and the evolution of AI reasoning abilities.

Linus Lee, a research engineer at Notion, discusses how he uses ChatGPT and Notion AI to maximize creative control. He emphasizes the importance of user agency in AI tools and explores limitations that can enhance artistic creativity. They also delve into the future of AI interfaces and address misconceptions about AI. Additionally, they explore book recommendations and the need for ChatGPT in large organizations.

[Bonus Episode] Latent.space hosts, Alessio and Swyx, sit down with Linus Lee of Notion AI to discuss Linus’ experience starting the AI/UX community, prompt engineering at Notion, and designing AI interfaces and agents. The latent.space podcast aims to be the first place where AI engineers hear about the latest AI news and technology trends. We’ve had several guests in common – including Shreya Rajpal of Guardrails, Jonathan & Abhi from the recently acquired for $1.3B MosaicML, and also Riley Goodside from Scale AI – and also explored similar themes, including the question of which AI companies have durable business moats, and the flurry of experimentation going into AI agents right now. We recommend checking them out! Keep up to date with Latent.space here:  Website: https://www.latent.space/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2p7zZVwVF6Yk0Zsb4QmT7t?si=95fb033e3c014975 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/latent-space-the-ai-engineer-podcast-codegen-agents/id1674008350 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LatentSpace-podcast We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.RECOMMENDED PODCAST:The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix’s culture deck Patty McCord.https://link.chtbl.com/hrhereticsTIMESTAMPS(05:52) Starting the AI / UX community(12:23) Most knowledge work is not text generation(18:43) Finding the right constraints and interface for AI(21:27) Linus' journey to working at Notion(25:51) The importance of notations and interfaces(28:29) Setting interface defaults and standards(34:58) The challenges of designing AI agents(42:00) Notion deep dive: “Blocks”, AI, and more(53:22) Prompt engineering at Notion(01:04:22) Lightning RoundSPONSOR:Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitiveThis show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.

Linus Lee, an AI engineer at Notion, shares behind-the-scenes stories of one of the most widely used AI tools today. Topics include developing AI products, staffing, educating users, challenges in building Notion Q&A, partnerships with Anthropic and Open AI, iterating on interfaces, and over-hyped/under-hyped AI features.

In a world dominated by mass-produced software, making your own tools is a way to take back agency in your digital life. Linus joins Mark and Adam to talk about his experiences building a personal software ecosystem; tools that are a reflection of the maker’s values and taste; and packaging/sharing solutions like Docker, CodePen, Replit, and Deno. And: is it possible for software to ever be “done”? — Linus thinks so. Discuss this episode in the Muse community Follow @MuseAppHQ on Twitter Show notes Linus Lee @thesephist Surface Duo Nintendo DS Backbone.js Spensa (farming technology startup) Django Replit Monocle full-text search Ink (programming language) changing lightbulb meme DigitalOcean August (Linus’ self-made x86 assembler) Metamuse episode with Weiwei Xu situated software stream fusion in mathematics reverse proxy software erosion aka bit rot FileMaker Pro newline-delimited JSON flat dependency trees dynamic linked libraries Go static linking not invented here Hundred Rabbits lil apps Szymon Kaliski An app can be a home-cooked meal Lucerne (Linus' self-made Twitter client) TweetDeck Taylor Swift Go by Example multi-tenancy Metamuse episode on local-first whoami game modding Deno Deno’s sandboxing and permissions Qubes OS Docker container Heroku Buttons macOS .app bundles CodePen xkcd on modern software dependencies ProseMirror Metamuse episode on filmmaking curl maintainer has been at it for 23 years

Linus Lee, software developer and creator of Ink, discusses building software for yourself, including his full text personal search engine called Monocle. They delve into topics like creating a personal programming language, challenges of personal knowledge organization, and the value of personal projects. They also talk about career choices, standing out in the industry, and the benefits of sharing personal software for inspiration.

Linus Lee from Notion AI discusses innovative interfaces for text and image manipulation, the future of AI reasoning capabilities, and the importance of failure analysis and model merging in AI development. The podcast explores practical AI tools like PyTorch, advancements in language models, and the societal implications of AI advancements.

Linus Lee, Research Engineer at Notion, discusses designing interfaces for Generative AI tools, the challenges of instructing AI, user feedback's importance in AI design process, security considerations, and distinguishing between AI-generated and human-written text.

Notion AI lead Linus Lee discusses lessons learned from the product roll out, prompt engineering for different languages, optimal UI for AI, and his journey to working at Notion. Also covers challenges of conveying specific speech registers, limitations of chat interfaces, and evaluating performance of language models.