David Ha — AI & Evolution: Learning to do More with Less (EP.146)
Release Date: 02/09/2023
Sangeet Paul Choudary — AI and our System Reshuffle (EP.282)
Infinite Loops
Sangeet Paul Choudary, bestselling author of Platform Revolution and Reshuffle, and senior fellow at UC Berkeley, joins the show to challenge the conventional wisdom about AI's impact on our economy. We explore why knowledge workers risk falling "below the algorithm," how curiosity and judgment become luxury goods in a world of cheap answers, and why our educational and career structures need complete reinvention rather than incremental reform. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you...
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Michael Dean — The Architecture of Essays (EP.281)
Infinite Loops
Michael Dean — architect-turned-writer, O’Shaughnessy Fellow, and creator of Essay Architecture — joins the show to explore the hidden structures beneath nonfiction and why essays, like buildings, can be designed with patterns rather than left to inspiration. We discuss the origins of Essay Architecture, Michael’s 27-pattern framework that maps essays across Idea, Form, and Voice, and how to make craft teachable and AI feedback useful without replacing the writer. Along the way, we dive into architecture school critiques, why publishable doesn’t mean perfect, how editing rewires...
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Roon — On Shape Rotators, AGI & Tenet (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)
Infinite Loops
Hello everyone, Jim here. We're taking a brief two-week break from new episodes to spotlight a couple of golden oldies from the Infinite Loops archive. Years later, these remain some of my favorite conversations. We’ll be back soon with fresh episodes, but in the meantime, enjoy this trip back to November 2023, when we welcomed the one and only Roon. _________________ AI researcher, memelord extraordinaire, and techno-optimist Roon joins the show to discuss coming up with the shape rotator vs. wordcel meme, what an AGI world could become, and why Tenet is Christopher Nolan’s best movie....
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Gurwinder Bhogal's Guide to Modern Survival (Infinite Loops CLASSICS)
Infinite Loops
Hello everyone, Jim here. We're taking a brief two-week break from new episodes to spotlight a couple of golden oldies from the Infinite Loops archive. Years later, these remain some of my favorite conversations. We’ll be back soon with fresh episodes, but in the meantime, enjoy this trip back to August 2024, when we welcomed the one and only Gurwinder Bhogal. _________________ “We have created for ourselves a world that we didn't evolve for.” Gurwinder Bhogal is, for my money, one of the most independent, original and insightful thinkers you’ll find in our corner of the internet. He...
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Joe Hudson — The Art of Accomplishment (EP.280)
Infinite Loops
What happens when a self-described "not very good" venture capitalist discovers he has an extraordinary gift for coaching the world's most successful CEOs? Joe Hudson joins Infinite Loops to share his unconventional journey from Alaska fishing boats to Hollywood directing to Silicon Valley boardrooms, ultimately finding his calling in helping high-performers unlock their deepest potential. This conversation dives deep into Joe's revolutionary three-center approach to human development—working with the head, heart, and nervous system simultaneously to create lasting transformation, and MORE!...
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Michael Gibson & Danielle Strachman — The 1517 Rebellion (EP.279)
Infinite Loops
Michael Gibson and Danielle Strachman, co-founders of 1517 Fund, join the show to discuss their rebellion against higher education, why universities stifle creativity, why IQ doesn't correlate with innovation, and how betting on "misfit toys" is the way to go—plus we explore Girardian mimesis, the perishable nature of creativity, the laziness of pessimistic storytelling and MORE! I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our . Important...
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Ed Latimore — The Art of Self-Transformation (EP.278)
Infinite Loops
Ed Latimore: boxer, physicist, and author of Hard Lessons from the Hurt Business makes his third appearance on the show to discuss hard-won wisdom about impulse control, self-forgiveness, the challenges of modern parenting and why being discerning (not judgmental) about your social circle might be the simplest rule for a better life. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our . Important Links: Ed’s Previous Appearances: , Show...
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Sam Arbesman — Science, Complexity and Humanistic Computation (EP.277)
Infinite Loops
Sam Arbesman, complexity scientist, author of "The Magic of Code," and scientist in residence at Lux Capital, joins me for a wide-ranging exploration of how we navigate an increasingly complex world that often exceeds human comprehension. We dive into the oral traditions that preserve crucial scientific knowledge, why cognitive diversity trumps demographic diversity, the forgotten innovations hiding in technological history, and Sam's vision for "Maxis 2.0". This conversation had everything—from science fiction's cultural impact to the philosophy of intellectual humility. Sam and I...
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Nick Maggiulli — Climbing the Wealth Ladder (EP.276)
Infinite Loops
Nick Maggiulli, data scientist turned financial writer and COO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, joins me to discuss his latest book,The Wealth Ladder, which presents a six-level framework for building and managing wealth. Warning: this episode will upend what you think you know about money. We explore why atypical results require atypical actions, how income and not budgeting is the real unlock for wealth mobility, and how many financial myths persist simply because they feel good. Nick also shares the personal rules he lives by, how wealth changes meaning, and why being rich doesn’t guarantee...
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Lawrence Yeo — The Inner Compass (EP.275)
Infinite Loops
Lawrence Yeo — writer, illustrator and author of “The Inner Compass” — joins the show to discuss the power of intuition in an uncertain world. We explore why embracing uncertainty leads to greater curiosity, how social conditioning pulls us away from our true north, why doing things for their own sake builds authentic conviction and how journaling the "whys" rather than the "whats" can transform your self-awareness. This conversation flowed so naturally we jumped right in without a formal introduction! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways,...
info_outlineDavid Ha is the Head of Strategy at Stability AI, and one of the top minds working in AI today. He previously worked as a research scientist in the Brain team at Google.
David is particularly interested in evolution and complex systems, and his research explores how intelligence may emerge from limited resource constraints. He joins the show to discuss the advantages of open-source models, modelling AI as an emergent system, why large language models are bad at maths and MUCH more!
Important Links:
- David’s website
- David’s Twitter
- Teaching Machines to Draw (2017)
- Weight Agnostic Neural Networks (2019)
Show Notes:
- Why David joined Stability AI
- The advantages of open-source models
- We cannot predict the inventions of tomorrow
- Making memes with generative AI
- The centaur approach to AI
- An introduction to large language models
- The relationship between complex systems and resource constraints
- Large language models are bad at maths
- Modelling AI as an emergent system
- Understanding different perspectives
- MUCH more!
Books Mentioned:
- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
- Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective; by Kenneth Stanley and Joel Lehman