Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

By Azeem AzharBusiness News Technology Investing Tech News

Azeem Azhar's Exponential View episodes

May 12, 2021The Power of Mental Modeling and the Limits of AI
Kenneth Cukier, senior editor at the Economist, and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger, professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the University of Oxford, argue that because AI systems have no causal model of the world, they lack the human capacity for imagination and decision-making. Azeem Azhar explores their contention that we should not rely on AI to provide solutions to our problems. Rather we should systematically challenge how we frame our problems in order to produce breakthrough insights and innovations — then use AI to help enact those solutions.
They also discuss:
How “reframing” old technologies unleashed advances for SpaceX, Apple, Spotify and others.
How proper framing empowered New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to battle Covid-19 in her country.
Why you should not think “outside the box,” but instead “switch boxes.”
@kncukier
@Viktor_MS
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources:
“You Can Make Better Decisions by Placing Problems in a New Frame” (Bloomberg, 2021)
“11 Myths About Decision-Making” (Harvard Business Review, 2021)
“Beyond Deep Learning with Gary Marcus” (Exponential View podcast, 2019)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
47 min
May 05, 2021Startups and the State: Growing French Tech
In less than a decade France has gone from tech backwater to the startup engine of the EU. It recently celebrated its 12th company to achieve a $1 billion valuation and is well on the way to President Macron’s goal of “25 unicorns by 2025.” Kat Borlongan, director of La French Tech, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how her government taskforce has been working to effectively drive growth in the French startup scene.
They also discuss:
Why achieving tech sovereignty has become a key motivator for governments.
How France’s visa scheme is part of their offensive strategy to attract top tech talent.
Why the French government is directly investing in startups via public investment bank Bpifrance.
@katborlongan
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources:
“Building Unicorns in Europe” (Exponential View podcast with Reshma Sohoni, 2019)
“The State of European Tech 2020″ (Atomico, 2021)
“Paris overtakes Berlin for tech start-ups after boost from Macron“ (Financial Times, 2019)
“La French Tech ecosystem map“ (Interactive dashboard on France’s tech startups)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
43 min
April 28, 2021How Data Helps Companies Honor Their Climate Goals
Turning a corporate climate pledge into reality is a complex endeavor. Watershed, a software startup co-founded by Christian Anderson, is committed to using data to cut corporate emissions fast. In conversation with Azeem Azhar, Christian shares the challenges of putting this dream into practice.
They also discuss:
The role of network effects in the net-zero transition.
How Watershed’s data business compares to social media.
Why carbon removal decisions in companies should reside within the CFO’s office.
@chranderson
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further Reading
“IKEA: Making a $40 billion company climate positive” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)
“How Measuring and Reducing Emissions Has Become Its Own Business” (Bloomberg, 2021)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
48 min
April 21, 2021The Future of Meat
Livestock is responsible for 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions. Could meat grown in labs offer a sustainable – and palatable – future? Didier Toubia, CEO and co-founder of cultured meat start-up Aleph Farms, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the biotech, ethics, and economics of making beef without cows.
They also discuss:
Why food security and public health are driving the development of alternative protein sources.
Why cultivated meat may achieve price parity with normal beef within five years.
How cultivated meat might integrate within the existing food supply chains.
@AlephFarms
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further Reading:
“How AI and Genomics Are Reshaping Farming” (Exponential View podcast with Mike Zelkind, 2020)
“Israel is a fake meat powerhouse” (Wired, 2021)
“Investing in a slice of the non-meat future” (Financial Times, 2021)
“Edible insects and lab-grown meat are on the menu” (Economist, 2020)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
38 min
April 14, 2021Mapping AI’s Societal Impact
AI is not just code and algorithms. It’s an industry built on a global network of resource extraction, human labor, and data collection. Kate Crawford, senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research and research professor of communication and science and technology studies at USC Annenberg, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the far-reaching impacts of AI and to consider the urgent case for proper governance and regulation of the industry.
They also discuss:
Why we need to observe hardware supply chains to understand AI’s impact.
Why the AI industry, like aviation and pharma, should be subject to strict regulation.
Why tech leaders should take a much greater responsibility for the social and environmental effects of technical systems.
@katecrawford
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further Reading:
“Anatomy of an AI System” (Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, 2018)
“AI, Accountability, and Power” (Exponential View with Mereditch Whitaker, 2019)
“Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence” (Kate Crawford, Yale University Press 2021)
“How AI is exploiting people and the planet” (New Scientist, 2021)
“Time to regulate AI that interprets human emotions” (Nature, 2021)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
1 hr 3 min
April 07, 2021Making Quantum Computers a Commercial Reality
IonQ is the first company solely focused on quantum computing to go public, with its quantum computers accessible via the cloud today. The company’s co-founder/chief scientist Chris Monroe and president/CEO Peter Chapman join Azeem Azhar to explore how they turned cutting-edge research into a scalable product. They also discuss the engineering challenges that remain before quantum systems not only surpass the fastest supercomputers, but also become widely available.
In addition, they address:
Why IonQ, unlike Google and IBM, have bet on the “trapped ion” approach to building quantum computers.
How major software innovation could move quantum computing forward.
Why quantum computers excel at optimization problems involving more variables than classical computers can accommodate.
@IonQ_Inc
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further Reading:
“Building A Quantum Computer with Light” (Exponential View podcast featuring Jeremy O’Brien, 2021)
“Quantum computing’s next trick? The power of networked clusters” (Peter Chapman in Wired, 2021)
“Commercialising quantum computers” (The Economist, 2020)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
50 min
March 31, 2021Bitcoin and the Future of Decentralized Finance
Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, joins Azeem Azhar to explore the potential and politics of cryptocurrencies: from the ideological origins of Bitcoin to the new wave of decentralized financial products that could disrupt traditional finance.
They also discuss:
Why the values of the Cypherpunk community are enshrined in Bitcoin’s design.
How the Decentralized Finance movement is re-imagining existing products on blockchain networks.
If Bitcoin will ever break out of its niche to become a widely used currency.
@Melt_Dem
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources:
“Is the financial establishment coming round to bitcoin?” (The Economist, 2021)
“Get ready for self-driving banks” (Financial Times, 2021)
“The Redecentralized Web” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)
“Politics, Power & Protocols” (Meltem Demirors, CoinShares 2019)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
51 min
March 24, 2021The Evolution of Teamwork (with Atlassian CEO Scott Farquhar)
Atlassian, the enterprise software innovator, is helping to drive disruption across the world of work. Co-founder and co-CEO, Scott Farquhar, joins Azeem Azhar to explain how, during a global pandemic, they nearly doubled the size of their workforce, why the workplace will never be the same after Covid-19, and what the implications are for companies and employees who increasingly operate remotely, asynchronously, and in flatter hierarchies.
They also discuss:
Why Farquhar believes that most companies are becoming like software companies, where the CEO and CIO are in strategic lock-step and ready to disrupt their business before they are disrupted by competitors.
Why companies are shifting their team structures from being project-based to product-based.
Why Farquhar believes his approach to company-building is akin to gardening.
@scottfarkas
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources:
“Empowering Workers in the Digital Future” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)
“WFH Doesn’t Have to Dilute Your Corporate Culture” (Harvard Business Review, 2021)
“Picking the Right Approach to Digital Collaboration” (MIT Sloan, 2021)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
49 min
March 17, 2021The Architects of AI
Cade Metz, technology correspondent at The New York Times, joins Azeem Azhar to discuss his new book Genius Makers. In it, he tells the story of the pioneers who brought AI out of academic labs, sparking a Big Tech arms race and transforming our everyday lives.
They also discuss:
How deep learning went from an unworkable concept to fueling the AI boom.
Why bias and prejudice “baked in” to an AI system are almost impossible to remove.
Which early signals tech giants followed to develop AI even before deep learning went mainstream.
@CadeMetz
@azeem
@ExponentialView
Further resources
Genius Makers (Cade Metz, 2021)
“DeepMind’s Journey from Games to Fundamental Science” (Exponential View podcast with Demis Hassabis, 2020)
“How GPT-3 Is Shaping Our AI Future” (Exponential View podcast with Sam Altman, 2020)
“An AI Pioneer Explains the Evolution of Neural Networks” (Wired, 2019)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
42 min
March 10, 2021Universities and the Innovation Landscape
What are universities for? Are they an elite pipeline for elite jobs, or can they meet the needs of societies transforming amid technological advances? Azeem Azhar explores the role of higher education in research, innovation, and progress with Geraint Rees, Dean of Faculty of Life Sciences at University College London and a leader of their AI strategy.
They also discuss:
How University College London researchers drove the design, approval, and production of a breathing aid for COVID-19 patients in just 6 weeks.
Why liberal, diverse universities can survive alongside more focused, skills-based institutions.
Why universities are essential to a healthy startup ecosystem.
@azeem
@ExponentialView
@profgeraintrees
Further resources:
“Understanding the Enduring Consequences of Covid-19” (Exponential View podcast, 2020)
“What will education look like in 20 years? Here are 4 scenarios” (World Economic Forum, 2021)
About Exponential View:
Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.

To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/

Where to find me:
Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/
Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem

Production by EPIIPLUS1.
Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
39 min

About Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

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How will the future unfold? What is the impact of AI and other exponential technologies on business & society? Join Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, on his quest to demistify the era of…