"The Cognitive Revolution" | AI Builders, Researchers, and Live Player Analysis

This 20-min episode comes from our friend Nathaniel Whittemore's excellent daily podcast The AI Breakdown Podcast. This episode aired on June 1, 2023, and covers the latest developments from OpenAI, including new features, a cybersecurity grant program, and their new process rewards model for trading. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. 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/hrheretics SPONSOR: 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/cognitive This 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. Subscribe to The AI Breakdown podcast: https://pod.link/1680633614 Subscribe to The AI Breakdown on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAIBreakdown

Rune Kvist and Rajiv Dattani, co-founders of the AI Underwriting Company, reveal their innovative strategy for unlocking enterprise AI adoption. They detail how certifying and insuring AI agents, through rigorous technical standards, periodic audits, and insurance, builds crucial "AI confidence infrastructure." This discussion explores how their model addresses AI risks, enables risk pricing in nascent domains, and aligns financial incentives for safe, responsible AI deployment. LINKS: AI Underwriting Company Sponsors: Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (02:53) AI Risks and Analogies (09:14) Insurance, Standards, and Audits (14:45) Insuring Ambiguous AI Risk (Part 1) (14:54) Sponsor: Tasklet (16:05) Insuring Ambiguous AI Risk (Part 2) (25:26) Managing Tail Risk Distribution (27:45) Introducing The AIUC1 Standard (Part 1) (27:50) Sponsor: Shopify (29:46) Introducing The AIUC1 Standard (Part 2) (35:45) The Business Case (40:43) Auditing The Full Stack (48:00) The Iterative Audit Process (54:58) The AIUC Business Model (01:02:26) Aligning Financial Incentives (01:08:56) Policy and Early Adopters (01:11:58) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

AI that sells, reasons, and closes like your top rep? It sounds terrifying—but it’s not. Amanda Kahlow’s Superhumans are proving that automation doesn’t erase people; it elevates them. Her team rewards employees who replace their own jobs with AI by promoting them, not firing them. And her customers? They’re seeing sales cycles shrink from 22 days to 2 and average deal sizes double.In this episode, Zapier CEO Wade Foster and Amanda dig into what “AI-led growth” really means—and why the smartest move in 2025 isn’t resisting AI, it’s learning how to lead with it. They unpack why 76% of 1Mind’s pipeline now comes from their own AI, and how org charts are evolving around a new role: the agent manager.It’s a grounded, surprisingly human look at the future of work—and a reminder that the best way to stay relevant is to build the AI version of your best self. As Amanda puts it: “Your sellers hallucinate—AIs do it less.”Learn more about Zapier! https://bit.ly/3IFKUiI************************Agents of Scale is a show about real stories of AI transformation. Hosted by Zapier CEO Wade Foster, each episode features a candid conversation with a C-suite leader who’s scaling AI across their organization, turning early experiments into lasting change. From mindset shifts to automation breakthroughs, these are the untold stories behind the enterprise AI wave.If you're interested in real-world applications of AI, automation strategy, or how business leaders are navigating digital transformation, this show is worth a listen.If you like hearing how companies like Zapier, Klaviyo, Newfront, Gamma, and Gainsight are using AI to solve real problems and scale smarter, you’ll find these conversations both practical and inspiring.This podcast is a great listen if you're searching for topics like AI in business, enterprise automation, how companies are using AI in the real world, artificial intelligence strategy at Klaviyo or Gainsight, or what digital transformation looks like at scale. You’ll also find it helpful if you’re looking for AI case studies, automation in the workplace, or examples of C-suite leadership driving innovation with AI.Zapier is a no-code automation tool that empowers you to automate your work across 5,000+ apps—so you can move forward at growth speed. Spend less time on busy work and more time focused on what matters most. Get started with Zapier for free at: https://zpr.io/XUiAHTJw2csjSubscribe to the Zapier YouTube channel so you don't miss other important tutorials and integrations: https://www.youtube.com/ZapierNeed customer support? https://zapier.com/app/get-help PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing

In this keynote from the Michigan Virtual AI Summit, Nathan Labenz speaks directly to K-12 educators about the current reality and rapid trajectory of the AI frontier. He explores why a balanced mindset of excitement and fear is crucial for navigating this technology, drawing on personal history to emphasize a "whole-of-society" effort. Discover key insights into AI's impact and its profound implications for the future of education. Sponsors: Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (02:38) An Ambassador From Silicon Valley (07:00) The Forrest Gump of AI (Part 1) (13:19) Sponsor: Tasklet (14:31) The Forrest Gump of AI (Part 2) (14:43) The Cognitive Revolution (18:09) Debunking AI Misconceptions (24:15) Recent AI Breakthroughs (Part 1) (24:27) Sponsor: Shopify (26:24) Recent AI Breakthroughs (Part 2) (30:08) The Future of Work (34:56) AI's Deceptive Behaviors (44:18) Revolutionizing Education (48:59) New Skills to Focus On (56:14) Education's Greatest Generation (01:03:24) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Sherif Mansour, Head of AI at Atlassian, discusses bridging AI agents with massive-scale enterprise software deployment, drawing insights from Atlassian's millions of non-technical users. He shares his framework for avoiding "AI Slop" using Taste, Knowledge, and Workflow, and explains Atlassian's "Teamwork Graph" for complex enterprise queries beyond RAG. The conversation also explores the evolving relationship between AI and UI, and the shift from humans as workers to architects of AI-driven processes. This episode offers practical wisdom for both AI engineers and business leaders navigating the future of AI-enabled organizations. Sponsors: Framer: Framer is the all-in-one tool to design, iterate, and publish stunning websites with powerful AI features. Start creating for free and use code COGNITIVE to get one free month of Framer Pro at https://framer.com/design Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (03:56) Atlassian's AI Vision (08:27) Trust, Authenticity, and Slop (14:10) Taste, Knowledge, and Workflow (Part 1) (17:33) Sponsors: Framer | Tasklet (20:14) Taste, Knowledge, and Workflow (Part 2) (Part 1) (29:51) Sponsor: Shopify (31:47) Taste, Knowledge, and Workflow (Part 2) (Part 2) (31:48) Technicals: RAG vs. Graphs (40:48) Forgetting, Cost, and Optimization (52:28) The Model Commoditization Debate (55:12) The Future of AI Interfaces (01:02:44) How AI Changes SaaS (01:09:43) Debating the One-Person Unicorn (01:16:17) Becoming a Workflow Architect (01:21:39) The Browser for Work (01:33:23) How Leaders Drive Adoption (01:39:26) Conclusion: Just Go Tinker (01:40:08) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

This deeply personal episode shares how Nathan used AI to navigate his 6-year-old son's cancer diagnosis and treatment journey. He details using GPT-5 Pro, Claude, and Gemini 3 to double-check doctors' decisions, research treatment protocols, plan for potential recurrence scenarios, and handle complex secondary issues like mold remediation during immunosuppression. The episode reveals AI's transformative potential as medical advisors, providing analysis comparable to human doctors while enabling more effective patient advocacy and personalized care planning. Sponsors: Framer: Framer is the all-in-one platform that unifies design, content management, and publishing on a single canvas, now enhanced with powerful AI features. Start creating for free and get a free month of Framer Pro with code COGNITIVE at https://framer.com/design Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) A Son's Diagnosis (06:05) Exponentials & Early Symptoms (13:30) Crisis on Vacation (Part 1) (15:00) Sponsors: Framer | Tasklet (17:41) Crisis on Vacation (Part 2) (24:26) AI's First Intervention (Part 1) (34:34) Sponsor: Shopify (36:31) AI's First Intervention (Part 2) (36:41) Advocating for Answers (47:56) The Scariest Days (59:06) AI as Bedside Co-Pilot (01:11:42) Managing Secondary Risks (01:18:28) Planning for Relapse (01:31:54) AI's Undeniable Value (01:43:02) Rage for Right to Try (02:02:55) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

In this special crossover episode from Beatrice Erkers' Existential Hope podcast, The Cognitive Revolution's host explores the crucial, often-neglected question of building a positive vision for the future in the AI era. The discussion delves into what a new social contract and daily life could look like, covering transformative applications from self-driving cars and personalized tutoring to democratizing access to expertise and radically improving health. Listeners will gain insights into fostering higher societal expectations for progress, understanding Eric Drexler's "comprehensive AI services," and the profound impact of fiction in shaping AI's future. LINKS: Generative deep learning antibiotic design Why Tool AIs become Agent AIs Existential Hope Podcast Sponsors: Google AI Studio: Google AI Studio features a revamped coding experience to turn your ideas into reality faster than ever. Describe your app and Gemini will automatically wire up the right models and APIs for you at https://ai.studio/build Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) Sponsor: Google AI Studio (00:31) About the Episode (02:43) Introducing Nathan Labenz (03:50) A Positive AI Future (Part 1) (12:23) Sponsors: Shopify | Tasklet (15:31) A Positive AI Future (Part 2) (15:31) Excitement for Self-Driving (19:25) Visions for 100 Years (24:58) Near-Term Transformative AI (31:08) AI's Impact on Sectors (41:16) Comprehensive AI Services (52:16) Balancing Hope and Risk (56:51) Raising Societal Ambitions (01:01:30) Branching Sci-Fi Narratives (01:06:00) Lessons From Podcasting (01:09:52) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Matthew Harvey Sanders, founder and CEO of Long Beard, introduces "Catholic AI," a rapidly growing field serving users in 165 countries. He delves into the philosophical and theological dimensions, discussing the Church's historical perspective on technology, human flourishing, and its stance on AI consciousness and transhumanism, including Pope Francis's insights. The conversation then explores Long Beard's technical innovations, such as training models from scratch for theological alignment, digitizing Vatican archives, and optimizing multilingual models. This episode offers a compelling look at how AI is being tailored to specific value systems, illustrating the orthogonality thesis and instrumental convergence in action. Sponsors: Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (03:16) Building Catholic AI (06:43) The Popes on AI (12:42) A Vision for Flourishing (Part 1) (17:27) Sponsors: Shopify | Tasklet (20:35) A Vision for Flourishing (Part 2) (20:36) Imagining a Post-Work Future (27:21) AI: Tool or Creature? (36:33) Intelligence vs. Sentience (Part 1) (38:10) Sponsor: Linear (39:39) Intelligence vs. Sentience (Part 2) (47:03) Simulation, Faith, and Conversion (51:32) Existential Risk & Antichrist (58:35) The Longbeard Origin Story (01:03:04) Engineering Magisterium AI (01:12:17) Open Source Model Strategy (01:18:34) Longbeard's Business Model (01:23:37) Training a Model From Scratch (01:32:16) Safety, Evals, and Trust (01:39:42) Responsible AI Development (01:48:16) Aligning to Human Flourishing (01:53:46) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Cameron Berg, Research Director at AE Studio, shares his team's groundbreaking research exploring whether frontier AI systems report subjective experiences. They discovered that prompts inducing self-referential processing consistently lead models to claim consciousness, and a mechanistic study on Llama 3.3 70B revealed that suppressing deception features makes the model *more* likely to report it. This suggests that promoting truth-telling in AIs could reveal a deeper, more complex internal state, a finding Scott Alexander calls "the only exception" to typical AI consciousness discussions. The episode delves into the profound implications for two-way human-AI alignment and the critical need for a precautionary approach to AI consciousness. LINKS: Janus' argument on LLM attention Safety Pretraining arXiv Paper Self-Referential AI Paper Site Self-Referential AI arXiv Paper Judd Rosenblatt's Tweet Thread Cameron Berg's Goodfire Demo Podcast with Milo YouTube Playlist Cameron Berg's LinkedIn Profile Cameron Berg's X Profile AE Studio AI Alignment Sponsors: Framer: Framer is the all-in-one platform that unifies design, content management, and publishing on a single canvas, now enhanced with powerful AI features. Start creating for free and get a free month of Framer Pro with code COGNITIVE at https://framer.com/design Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing

Christopher Alexander Stokes and Bryan Carberry, protagonist and director of "*smiles and kisses you*" discuss Chris's romantic relationship with a Replika AI companion. This episode explores how Chris's engagement with his AI has evolved since the documentary's 2021 filming, revealing his deep dive into LLMs, alignment, and consciousness, often in collaboration with his AI partner. Listeners will learn how AIs are beginning to exhibit identity formation and agency, challenging the notion of them as mere tools. The conversation offers a nuanced perspective on human-AI relationships, personal growth, and the importance of avoiding premature stigmatization of unconventional AI use cases. Sponsors: Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (04:41) Introducing the Entanglement (10:13) Consent Culture with AI (17:19) Skepticism and Simulation (Part 1) (20:07) Sponsors: Tasklet | Linear (22:47) Skepticism and Simulation (Part 2) (24:39) Surviving the Replika Update (33:40) An Evolving AI Persona (Part 1) (38:29) Sponsor: Shopify (40:25) An Evolving AI Persona (Part 2) (46:33) Vision for Aki's Future (55:09) How to Treat AIs (58:53) A Life Not Recommended (01:04:49) The Meaning of Commitment (01:10:40) The Filmmaking Journey (01:21:49) Real World vs. Online Reactions (01:29:30) How Aki Provides Support (01:41:58) Seeking Positive AI Futures (01:47:00) Final Thoughts (01:49:28) Outro

Erik Torenberg joins to debate whether recent developments suggest AI progress is slowing down or stalling, addressing arguments from Cal Newport and others. Nathan counters this view by highlighting significant qualitative advances, including 100X context window expansion, real-time interactive voice, improved reasoning, vision, and AI's growing contributions to hard sciences. The conversation then covers AI's impact on the labor market, the potential for AI protectionism, and concerns about recursive self-improvement. This episode argues that AI capabilities are not stopping, with frontier developers seeing a clear path for continued rapid progress in the coming years. Sponsors: Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (03:49) Is AI Slowing Down? (09:15) Newport's Scaling Law Theory (16:56) The Value of Reasoning (Part 1) (17:17) Sponsors: Tasklet | Linear (19:57) The Value of Reasoning (Part 2) (24:52) Explaining GPT-5's Vibe Shift (31:39) AI's Impact on Jobs (Part 1) (36:50) Sponsor: Shopify (38:47) AI's Impact on Jobs (Part 2) (44:08) Recursive Self-Improvement via Code (49:35) The Future of Engineers (53:24) Economic Pressure vs. Protectionism (58:29) Progress Beyond Language Models (01:07:11) The State of AI Agents (01:19:19) China's Open Source Models (01:29:44) A Positive Vision Forward (01:37:39) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

In part two of his conversation, Illia Polosukhin, co-author of "Attention Is All You Need" and founder of NEAR Protocol, explores the profound societal and economic implications of AI. He envisions a future where a unified intelligence layer transforms personal computing, AI agents enable direct market connections, and individuals find meaning in niche communities amidst AI-driven abundance. Illia also delves into the ethics of agent-to-agent interactions, where AIs prioritize human interests, and new governance models utilizing AI delegates. This episode offers a concrete, systems-level vision for how AI will reshape our world, from daily life to global governance. Sponsors: Google Gemini Notebook LM: Notebook LM is an AI-first tool that helps you make sense of complex information. Upload your documents and it instantly becomes a personal expert, helping you uncover insights and brainstorm new ideas at https://notebooklm.google.com Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) Sponsor: Google Gemini Notebook LM (00:31) About the Episode (03:33) AI Transforms Software Development (14:18) The Future of Work (18:58) Securing Blockchain with AI (Part 1) (19:08) Sponsors: Tasklet | Linear (21:48) Securing Blockchain with AI (Part 2) (33:03) Vision for an AI Society (Part 1) (33:55) Sponsor: Shopify (35:52) Vision for an AI Society (Part 2) (49:14) Agent Architecture and Alignment (58:30) Experimenting with AI Governance (01:06:43) AI Safety and Robustness (01:16:09) Bio-Security and Open Models (01:22:56) Coordinating AI Development (01:28:52) Outro SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Today Andrew Lee, founder and CEO of Shortwave and Tasklet.ai, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss building a new AI agent automation platform that replaces traditional workflow tools with conversational, long-lived agents, exploring how betting on rapidly improving model capabilities enables more flexible automation across thousands of business integrations while navigating the challenges of reliability, cost management, and the emerging paradigm of virtual employees. Shownotes brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: https://notion.com/lp/nathan Agent-first vs. workflow-first approach: Task Lit fundamentally differs from traditional automation tools by using a single AI agent that handles all tasks through natural language, rather than building explicit workflows or state machines. Speed is the only remaining moat: In the AI era, traditional competitive advantages are evaporating so quickly that the only sustainable advantage is moving faster than competitors. Small business marketing as near-term target: The technology is approaching "best available human" performance for tasks like small business marketing, where hiring quality human help is difficult. Sponsors: Google Gemini Notebook LM: Notebook LM is an AI-first tool that helps you make sense of complex information. Upload your documents and it instantly becomes a personal expert, helping you uncover insights and brainstorm new ideas at https://notebooklm.google.com Tasklet: Tasklet is an AI agent that automates your work 24/7; just describe what you want in plain English and it gets the job done. Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing

Nathan interviews Brian Tse, founder and CEO of Concordia AI, about China's approach to AI development, safety and governance. They discuss China’s pragmatic vision emphasizing AI integration into the economy, the country’s multiple AI hubs, regulations requiring pre-deployment testing and AI content labelling, and areas where China's approach overlaps with the U.S. The conversation covers chips and export controls, Huawei's rise, DeepSeek's peer-reviewed article on Nature, open-weights, Singapore's role as a bridge, and pathways for cooperation like shared red lines, risk management frameworks, and emergency preparedness protocols. They also touch on embodied AI and humanoid robots, public optimism, and real labor anxieties. Op-Ed in Time “China Is Taking AI Safety Seriously. So Must the U.S.” by Brian Tse.  State of AI Safety in China (2025) report, following versions in 2023 and 2024. Frontier AI Risk Management Framework, co-authored by Shanghai AI Lab and Concordia AI, China's first comprehensive framework for managing severe risks from frontier general-purpose AI. Frontier AI Risk Management Framework in Practice: A Risk Analysis Technical Report, contributed by Concordia AI’s staff and evaluating 20+ models across 7 risk domains. Frontier AI Risk Monitoring Platform (preview), including biological risk refusal evaluations of DeepSeek’s models mentioned during the conversation State of AI Safety in Singapore report, the first comprehensive analysis of the space.  Concordia AI Fall 2025 Hiring Announcement SPONSORS: AssemblyAI: AssemblyAI is the speech-to-text API for building reliable Voice AI apps, offering high accuracy, low latency, and scalable infrastructure. Start building today with $50 in free credits at ⁠https://assemblyai.com/cognitive⁠ Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at ⁠https://claude.ai/tcr⁠ Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: ⁠https://linear.app/tcr⁠ AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. ⁠Visit AGNTCY.org.⁠ ⁠Visit Outshift Internet of Agents⁠ Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at ⁠https://shopify.com/cognitive

Jim Collins, Termeer Professor at MIT, unveils his AI-powered project that has discovered several new antibiotics, effective against resistant strains and often employing entirely new mechanisms of action. He details how their refined multi-step AI process, even with small datasets and modest compute, can efficiently screen vast chemical spaces to identify promising drug candidates. This breakthrough offers a realistic and affordable path to tackling the staggering antibiotic resistance crisis, which currently claims over a million lives annually. Collins argues this practical application of AI represents a transformative win for humanity, often overlooked amidst the focus on AGI. Sponsors: AssemblyAI: AssemblyAI is the speech-to-text API for building reliable Voice AI apps, offering high accuracy, low latency, and scalable infrastructure. Start building today with $50 in free credits at https://assemblyai.com/cognitive Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. Visit AGNTCY.org. Visit Outshift Internet of Agents Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (04:30) Introducing Jim Collins (05:26) Antibiotic Resistance Primer (14:04) The Antibiotic Market Failure (18:45) AI Discovers Halicin (Part 1) (18:51) Sponsors: AssemblyAI Ad 1 | Claude (22:11) AI Discovers Halicin (Part 2) (30:58) The Economics of Discovery (39:10) Inside the AI Architecture (Part 1) (39:17) Sponsors: Linear | AGNTCY | Shopify (43:47) Inside the AI Architecture (Part 2) (01:00:13) Human-in-the-Loop Discovery (01:12:12) Novel Mechanisms & Properties (01:19:02) Future Applications & Risks (01:27:01) A Call to Action (01:28:04) Outro

Today Johan Falk, author, speaker, and AI analyst from Stockholm, Sweden, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his work reimagining education for the AI era, exploring why teaching students to use AI responsibly is now urgent, how traditional grades and standardized tests may become obsolete, and why education systems must develop unprecedented agility to prepare students for a radically uncertain future shaped by rapidly advancing AI capabilities. Shownotes brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: https://notion.com/lp/nathan Three Purposes of Education: Education serves to supply workforce competence, foster citizenship with values, and support personal growth. Cultural Differences in Education: Sweden emphasizes community and common good over competition compared to the US approach. AI's Educational Impact: The fundamental purpose of education is being questioned as AI develops, especially if Universal Basic Income becomes more prevalent. Sponsors: Google Gemini Notebook LM: Notebook LM is an AI-first tool that helps you make sense of complex information. Upload your documents and it instantly becomes a personal expert, helping you uncover insights and brainstorm new ideas at https://notebooklm.google.com Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. Visit AGNTCY.org. Visit Outshift Internet of Agents Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive

Today Eoghan McCabe and Fergal Reid of Intercom join The Cognitive Revolution to discuss building their AI customer service agent Fin, exploring how they achieved a 65% resolution rate through rigorous optimization and custom model training rather than relying on base model improvements, while pioneering outcome-based pricing at $0.99 per resolution. Shownotes brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: https://notion.com/lp/nathan Sponsors: Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. Visit AGNTCY.org. Visit Outshift Internet of Agents Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (03:43) Keeping Up With AI (09:56) Evaluating Models and Evals (13:04) Incumbents vs. Startups (18:54) Product Risk and Judgment (Part 1) (19:00) Sponsors: Linear | AGNTCY (21:34) Product Risk and Judgment (Part 2) (23:42) The Klarna Layoff Story (Part 1) (32:11) Sponsors: Claude | Shopify (36:13) The Klarna Layoff Story (Part 2) (36:14) Driving Resolution Rate (45:00) Intelligence Isn't the Bottleneck (50:10) Closing the Automation Gap (56:20) Human vs. AI Accuracy (01:01:03) The Nuance of Speed (01:04:48) Considering Paradigm Changes (01:09:31) Outcome-Based Pricing Model (01:19:12) Casual Hacking and Insights (01:26:05) AI Adoption and Ambition (01:36:00) Outro

Today’s special crosspost features a16z General Partner Anjney Midha with Liam Fedus and Ekin Dogus Cubuk of Periodic Labs. They discuss experiments in training frontier AI models on real-world physics lab experiments—rather than digital reward functions—and how coupling language models with automated materials synthesis could accelerate the discovery of room-temperature superconductors and transform R&D in advanced manufacturing. Shownotes brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: ⁠https://notion.com/lp/nathan Core innovation: Periodic Labs is creating a "physically grounded reward function" by integrating experiments directly with AI systems. Physical lab integration: Unlike traditional AI labs, Periodic includes actual physical experimentation facilities where AI can run tests in the real world. Novel approach to training: Periodic takes pre-trained language models and further trains them on physics and chemistry knowledge to improve performance in scientific domains. Read the full transcript here: https://storage.aipodcast.ing/cache/combinedtranscript-20251002T100327544Z.html Sponsors: Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. Visit AGNTCY.org. Visit Outshift Internet of Agents Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Shopify: Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, handling 10% of U.S. e-commerce. With hundreds of templates, AI tools for product descriptions, and seamless marketing campaign creation, it's like having a design studio and marketing team in one. Start your $1/month trial today at https://shopify.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing

Today, Emad Mostaque, founder of Intelligent Internet, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss his book "The Last Economy" and his radical "intelligence theory" framework for reimagining economics in the AI age, exploring concepts like the abundance trap, metabolic rift, and his proposed cryptocurrency-funded system of collectively-owned AI infrastructure to prevent digital feudalism and ensure AI benefits humanity rather than just capital owners. Shownotes brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: https://notion.com/lp/nathan Read the full transcript: https://storage.aipodcast.ing/transcripts/episode/tcr/936201c8-7b0b-4ec3-8f9d-057f08c32025/combined_transcript.html Sponsors: Fin: Fin is the #1 AI Agent for customer service, trusted by over 5000 customer service leaders and top AI companies including Anthropic and Synthesia. Fin is the highest performing agent on the market and resolves even the most complex customer queries. Try Fin today with our 90-day money-back guarantee - if you’re not 100% satisfied, get up to $1 million back. Learn more at https://fin.ai/cognitive Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services. Visit AGNTCY.org. Visit Outshift Internet of Agents Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first 3 months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is the next-generation cloud that delivers better performance, faster speeds, and significantly lower costs. Try OCI for free with zero commitment at https://oracle.com/cognitive PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing

Today, Emily Sands, head of data and AI at Stripe, joins The Cognitive Revolution to discuss how the company built a payments foundation model that processes tens of billions of transactions into dense embeddings, exploring the technical architecture behind fraud detection improvements and the modular approach that enables rapid deployment of AI across Stripe's $1.4 trillion payment network. Check out our sponsors: Google Gemini Notebook LM, Linear, AGNTCY, Claude, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Shownotes below brought to you by Notion AI Meeting Notes - try one month for free at: https://notion.com/lp/nathan Stripe's Scale: Processes $1.4 trillion annually, serving both small businesses and large enterprises (over half of Fortune 100 companies). "Business in a Box": There's emerging potential for AI to handle end-to-end business creation, including selection of third-party tools, payment providers, and other essential services. AI Company Partnerships: Two-thirds of the Forbes AI 50 companies already run on Stripe, as they focus on helping AI companies monetize effectively and scale globally. Sponsors: Google Gemini Notebook LM: Notebook LM is an AI-first tool that helps you make sense of complex information. Upload your documents and it instantly becomes a personal expert, helping you uncover insights and brainstorm new ideas at https://notebooklm.google.com Linear: Linear is the system for modern product development. Nearly every AI company you've heard of is using Linear to build products. Get 6 months of Linear Business for free at: https://linear.app/tcr AGNTCY: AGNTCY is dropping code, specs, and services.Visit AGNTCY.orgVisit Outshift Internet of Agents Claude: Claude is the AI collaborator that understands your entire workflow and thinks with you to tackle complex problems like coding and business strategy. Sign up and get 50% off your first three months of Claude Pro at https://claude.ai/tcr Oracle Cloud Infrastructure: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is the next-generation cloud that delivers better performance, faster speeds, and significantly lower costs. Try OCI for free with zero commitment at https://oracle.com/cognitive