Promise

In this episode, we cover AI big boys teaming up with defense big boys, open-sourcing AI compute, semiconductors dissolved in goo, electro-conductive tattoos, curing dementia, and even tapeworm-based machinery.

It’d also be hard to avoid news from the insurance industry right now so we do question: does the model still work if we don’t trust our insurance suppliers?

In this episode, the dystopias we cover are probably much closer than many might want to admit. The important question is, as always: what is the future that you would like to build?

Sean’s links:

* Gooey semiconductors

* Rolling back dementia by focusing on the brain microbiome

* Prime Intellect building a system to train AI using spare compute power around the world

* Shield AI 🤝 Palantir Technologies

* OpenAI 🤝 Anduril

Ben’s links:

* Time-limited insurance coverage

* Man’s best friend sniffing out cancer

* Electro-conductive tattoos… replacing EEGs?

* Machining tapeworm mouthparts 😬

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

This episode, we debate the cultural acceptance of AI inference being good enough to replace us. Off the back of developing lightning fast inference hardware, should we care that outputs are 90% right rather than the full 100?

The last decade has shown us that what we see, learn, know even… depends on who built the software that we use. Does it matter who builds the hardware too? What if they’re the same entity?

We go heavy with the social observations in this one, so please, enjoy.

Sean’s links:

* The snake robot that saves lives

* The new SUPERFAST Cerebras chip

* Would octopuses take over the world?

* Meta building its own subsea cable network

Ben’s links:

* AI tweaking smiles to boost attraction

* Solar panels 🤝 hot air balloons

* Water + sunlight = electricity. Just.

* Yet another way to pull water from thin air

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

We’ve largely steered clear of AI advancements in recent episodes, mostly because the news around them seems relentless. This episode though, we cover everything from generalist AI models for everyday robots, to AI-generated privacy masks, to the AI-powered robots that can build you anything, to our preference for AI-generated content. We’ve got it all.

We even get into a heated discussion about using AI for research and education. How is the education system working or failing, and where might AI fit into it?

All this and more, coming right up.

Sean’s links:

* AI-generated digital privacy mask

* AI’s effects on scientific discovery and product innovation

* Physical Intelligence’s generalist AI policy

* Skin cream for sick corals

* Bonus: past episode with Nadia Lee on combating deepfakes

Ben’s links:

* Is it Shakespeare? Or ChatGPT?

* Robots that can build you basically anything

* Changing the way we grow corn

* Lab-grown diamonds achieved at low temperatures

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

In this episode, we cover everything from restoring vision, creating synthetic olfactory systems, making protein out of thin air, 3D-printing organs with light and sound, artificial magnetic muscles, and so much more.

All these breakthroughs have a pretty clear convergence around creating a synthetic human: if not in its entirety, then definitely restoring full physical ability to someone whose lost it. Would either scenario be a utopia or dystopia?

Listen in and find out. Enjoy.

Sean’s links:

* Implants to restore vision (aka AR for blindness)

* The myriad benefits of GLP-1s

* Osmo AIs digitized and reproduced scent

* James Ryall’s blog covering Jooules

* Jooules, the company making protein out of thin air

Ben’s links:

* Artificial, magnetic muscles

* Memory is not just in the brain, but at a cellular level

* 3D printing organs with light and sound

* Satellite algos detecting beach plastic

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

The highlight of this episode is a breakthrough out of UC Riverside, where researchers have managed to grow plants in total darkness. Obviously, there could be implications to this advancement, as there always are. We try and pull apart these unknown unknowns.

We also talk about extracting water out of even the driest of air, learned about mosquito’s preferred tastes, surmised about the intelligence of fungi, and got excited about learning to echo-locate.

Please enjoy our discussion in this episode.

Sean’s links:

* Fungal intelligence

* Stripe acquiring Bridge, a stablecoin company (paywall)

* Anyone can learn to echo-locate

* Cheap tools to digitally sniff out food quality

* Growing plants in darkness

Ben’s links:

* Are you tasty to mosquitoes?

* Sponges to extract gold from e-waste

* Pulling water out of thin air

* Liquid that mimics whale sonar

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

This episode, we look at how the dream-sharing tech of Inception is now real. Yes, we think it is as crazy as it sounds with equally crazy potential! We also talk about the developments in anti-aging from a variety of angles, from mitochondrial recharging to centromere manipulation.

We also look into the de-extinction of animals like the Thylacine or Tassie Tiger, how we might shoot webs like Spiderman, and how we can now design recreational drugs so you never get a bad trip.

Please enjoy our discussion in this episode.

Sean’s links:

* Breakthrough: 2 people communicating to each other from their own lucid dreams

* Hacking psychedelics for good times only

* Bioengineering waste plastic removal with mussels and enzymes

* Recharging mitochondria to slow down aging

Ben’s links:

* Messing with centromeres, ALSO to slow down aging

* Bringing Thylacines back to life

* Music can be an effective painkiller

* Spiderman webs. For reals.

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

We start with probably the most mind-bending concept we’ve covered on the show: that of observable time travel. We don’t quite know what to do with that yet, but we did cover a lot of other ground with bio-concretes, building things by shooting clay, synthetic milk, mining and manufacturing on the moon, as well as Meta Ray Bans and their privacy nightmares.

We also talk about hurricane prediction and modelling. We recorded this in the wake of Hurricane Helene that hit North Carolina, but before Hurricane Milton hit Florida. All we can say is look after each other out there.

Otherwise, please enjoy our discussion in this episode.

Sean’s links:

* Larger and more instructable language models become less reliable

* Doxxing with Meta Ray Bans

* Shooting clay to make buildings

* Normal Phenomena’s brutalist bioconcrete lamp

* Things to consider when building a telescope on the moon (Paywall)

Ben’s links:

* An observable, repeatable experiment that demonstrates “negative time”

* Rapid cardiac diagnostics, kind of like a rapid covid test

* Synthetic milk is on the horizon

* Gathering data from hurricanes to model them better

* Honorable mention, a new way to build chips for AI from the molecule upwards (Be warned, this is very hard reading)

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

Ladies and gentlemen we did it, for the first time we got a prediction right! Hot on the heels of the rogue wave predictor, we suggested earthquakes might be next. Lo and behold. This ties in quite nicely with AI being able to predict group human behavior better than humans can which we cover this episode. Besides that, we also look into exponential cost reductions in space exploration and cultured meat, self-healing metals and 3d-printed concrete, as well as the future of world building in games.

Enjoy!

Sean’s links:

* LLMs predicting outcomes of social science experiments

* Electric Twin, a company that leverages this LLM capability

* Exponential cost reduction in detecting black hole collisions

* Cultured meat getting cost competitive

* AI generating the original Doom game on the fly

Ben’s links:

* 3d printing concrete like coelacanth scales

* AI predicting earthquakes before they happen (CALLED IT)

* Self-healing silver

* an 800x increase in carbon capture reactions

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

In this episode, we discuss all kinds of advancements from rogue wave prediction to better ways we can use our current batteries. We try to answer the following questions. What could we achieve by storing DNA in Jurassic Park-esque amber resin? How do we solve a labor shortage in chip design? What do we need to grow plants in zero gravity, and would they even look the same? Do we reeeeaally want the outcome of a fungus-operated robot? And finally, do we want to be a spacefaring species?

Enjoy!

Sean’s links:

* Looming talent shortage in chip design

* Some of the experiments being conducted by the stranded astronauts

* University of Missouri scientists novel method for removing plastic from water

* Plastics now make up 0.5% of our brains

* Cornell’s wild fungus-operated robot

Ben’s links:

* Jurassic Park DNA storage

* Accidental discovery on how to turbocharge current batteries

* Tau proteins: “not just a bad guy”

* AI now able to predict rogue waves

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts

In this episode, Ben and I delve into the latest fascinating articles. As a taster for the conversation, we emerged with a few questions: How might water-powered electro-bandages accelerate wound healing? What role do heat-absorbing bricks play in the clean energy transition? What is the potential of air-powered analog computers? How is a new brain-computer interface transforming communication for those who can't speak? Can AI revolutionize the scientific method, or does it turn us into an idiocracy?

Enjoy!

Sean’s links:

* Water-powered electric bandages

* Heat-absorbing bricks powering the energy transition

* The “Thousand Sails” satellite megaconstellation

* “air-powered” computers out of UC-Riverside

* Fewer people want to stand out

Ben’s links:

* The lightning learning speed and accuracy of a new BCI

* Sakana AI and autonomous scientific research

* Leaf-shaped solar panels

* The Bananapocalypse (again)

If you enjoyed this, subscribe for free to receive new episodes right to your inbox

Otherwise, you can find Promise on your favorite podcast platforms:

* Spotify

* Apple Podcasts