November 28, 2023

179: Future of AI with Elixir?

33 minutes

In the latest episode, we delve into the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem and its implications for us as Elixir developers, highlighting the potential hazards of relying on proprietary services like OpenAI and the benefits of self-hosted, open-source AI models. We touch on the Elixir LangChain library, how Elixir's position of running our own AI models strengthens us, and the governance and financial risks of depending on a single AI provider. Tune in for why these topics matter and how they shape the future of development in the context of Elixir, plus the holiday season's impact on our show schedule, and more!

Show Notes online - http://podcast.thinkingelixir.com/179

Elixir Community News

https://twitter.com/chris_mccord/status/1724861258548052109 – Chris McCord teased a new visual on Twitter resembling a colorful flame logo with the text "Soon™", with more details to come.

https://hauleth.dev/post/who-watches-watchmen-ii/ – Hauleth's blog post explores creating an Elixir service supervised by SystemD, building on his series about managing BEAM applications.

https://www.elixirstreams.com/tips/how-page-title-is-updated – German Valesco explains the updating of the page_title in Phoenix LiveView with a tip and video demonstration.

https://dockyard.com/blog/2023/11/08/three-years-of-nx-growing-the-machine-learning-ecosystem – Sean Moriarity discusses the past three years and the future of the Elixir Machine Learning Ecosystem and Nx in a blog post on Dockyard.

https://twitter.com/TheErlef/status/1726654135750066390 – Announcement of the 3rd edition of a BEAM-focused devroom at the 2024 FOSDEM conference, set to take place in Brussels.

https://beam-fosdem.dev/ – FOSDEM's BEAM devroom, an event for the Elixir community and enthusiasts, provides details about the upcoming sidetrack.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY – The official playlist of ElixirConf US videos, with several more sessions expected to be added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw-030FD0Qc&list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY&index=46 – ElixirConf US video of Rafal Studnicki discussing keeping real-time auctions running during rollouts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P44hFAhKPao&list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY&index=47 – Tyler Young's ElixirConf US presentation on migrating data without downtime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XaB4XWg-Qg&list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY&index=48 – Michał Śledź's session at ElixirConf US on rewriting Pion in Elixir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pZP5jUYZg&list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY&index=49 – Andrew Berrien introduces ECSx and discusses a new approach to game development in Elixir at ElixirConf US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F42B6AZ879Q&list=PLqj39LCvnOWbHaZldxw_g02RaTQ4vQ1eY&index=50 – Geoffrey Lessel's introduction to Vox, a static site generator for Elixir enthusiasts, at ElixirConf US.

https://adventofcode.com/ – Advent of Code is approaching, presenting new coding challenges starting December 1st with a new rule against using AI for leaderboard rankings.

https://twitter.com/ljgago/status/1724917401462997413 – Leonardo Gago tweets about his kino_aoc smart cell to assist with Advent of Code puzzles in Livebook.

https://github.com/ljgago/kino_aoc – GitHub repository for KinoAoc, a Livebook smart cell created by Leonardo Gago for solving Advent of Code puzzles.

Do you have some Elixir news to share? Tell us at @ThinkingElixir or email at [email protected]

Discussion Resources

The discussion explores the AI ecosystem's influence on Elixir developers, addressing risks and dependencies unrelated to Elixir itself.

Concerns are raised about the dangers of building on top of OpenAI and the risk of service outages, as experienced with an AI fitness trainer.

Open-source AI models are discussed as viable alternatives that offer the possibility of self-hosting and independence from proprietary systems.

Mention of the Elixir LangChain library signifies an interest in being able to seamlessly switch AI models without altering application code.

The discussion covers the risks of government regulation, policy changes, financial and governance uncertainties, and how they could affect dependencies on single AI providers.

An industry desire for regulatory measures is expressed, aiming to build a legal buffer that could protect from competition.

The conversation questions the broader implications of reliance on AI, including why the topic is intriguing and why self-hosted, open-source models are crucial.

Arguably, Elixir is considered to have a strong position for running self-managed AI models, highlighting the alignment with open-source philosophies.

Looking to the future, Elixir is positioned well to do this.

A final note touches on the holiday season's effect on the podcast's show schedule with potential changes or pauses in the regular programming.

Find us online

Message the show - @ThinkingElixir

Message the show on Fediverse - @[email protected]

Email the show - [email protected]

Mark Ericksen - @brainlid

Mark Ericksen on Fediverse - @[email protected]

David Bernheisel - @bernheisel

David Bernheisel on Fediverse - @[email protected]

Cade Ward - @cadebward

Cade Ward on Fediverse - @[email protected]