Bethany on Warpcast

Content pfp

1 reply

0 recast

2 reactions

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

I geeked out analyzing "THE AMERICAN DYNAMISM 50: AI EDITION" by Andreessen Horowitz, so I figured I'd post it in a thread here where it won't get buried by the algorithms. I'd love to hear other folks' takes on this as well! https://a16z.com/american-dynamism-50-ai/ @pmarca

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

Overall takeaways: very narrow, male, conservative definition of “natl interest.” Is our ability to navigate space more important to natl interest than fixing black maternal mortality rate? Or preventing the nearly 50K gun deaths per year? But there is some edtech/health here, so it's not just a narrow definition

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

Anyway, moving on. Definition/choice noted. Here’s my reaction to the companies they do talk about: 1. Aerodrome: So cool & so helpful in practice, though in theory so Minority Report & so easy to see how this could go badly.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

2. Agility Robots: cool re: last mile delivery! Lol Amazon take note since apparently you’ve burned & churned your way through most of the human labor force :/ https://www.vox.com/recode/23170900/leaked-amazon-memo-warehouses-hiring-shortage

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

3. Air Space Intelligence: isn’t main problem in air travel efficiency that most planes are equipped with old fashioned radar so planes have to travel over a system of towers?

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

& upgrading all that equipment to modern comms equipment as per FAA’s NextGen initiative would require major investment coordinated between a ton of folks? This feels like tinkering in the margins if flight time is one of your main KPIs.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105254#:~:text=NextGen%20is%20FAA's%20multi%2Ddecade,satellite%20navigation%20and%20digital%20communications.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

4. Ambient.AI: Minority Report again. And you’d have to be SOOOO careful about that training data & how you avoid bias (because studies show that excluding #demographic data *increases* #bias because basically the training data is likely to include historical bias,

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

& ML algos can create proxies by triangulating other factors to predict demographics [& it reproduces/exacerbates historic bias]). https://hbr.org/2023/03/removing-demographic-data-can-make-ai-discrimination-worse

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

5. AMP Robotics: interesting & important development in #recycling and #wastemanagement. Though the founder’s last name is Horowitz - any relation? (No shade but seems like something you should disclose? And/or address?)

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

6. Amperon: k cool. #ElectricityGrids, #machineLearning, yada yada (with presumably significant economic impact). I’d also be curious about #Porters5 here (seems replicable?) but if Andreessen Horowitz is writing about you you’ve probably got some excellent political capital & can beat others in the space out.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

7. Anduril Industries: #yikes. Scary bomby #drones. 8. Applied Intuition: k, cool. Better tools/software for #selfDrivingVehicles

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

9. Built Robotics: k, cool, #robots building #solarPower stuff. But isn’t an inch kind of a significant difference in construction applications? If memory (and my laughably limited woodworking knowledge) serves, my dad measures his projects by 1/16 inch. I doubt commercial #construction is that much sloppier?

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

(I mean you’re definitely doing cool stuff and heading in the right direction. But seems like a ways to go before you’re ready for prime time/sales?)

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

10. Chef Robotics: k, cool. Seems pretty straightforward. 11. Covariant: cool, good stuff. :-p more helpful #tech for Amazon as it continues 2alienate the human workforce. 12. Databricks: K. Basically looks like it helps companies build LLMs from their own internal data in a private/more secure/governance-friendly way

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

13. Dexterity: AI-guided, autonomous robots for manufacturing/warehouse applications. K. 15. Figure: cool. Robots for dangerous/undesirable/understaffed jobs. 19. Hive AI: cool. AI-based online/community moderation. 22. LeoLabs: don’t crash your satellite.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

14. Farm-NG: super cool robots for all kinds of farms in theory, though in practice its commercial success depends heavily on economics. I don’t think of farmers as having particularly high margins, and therefore I would be surprised if small farmers had the capital to invest in this kind of thing.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

(Unless by “small farms” you mean vanity projects of rich people.) In the #DevelopingWorld you’d also have to be careful considering the availability of replacement parts and trained [robot] mechanics to fix them if/when they break when estimating market size/sales plans/projections.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

16. Flock Safety: hm. License plate reading technology. …how is that different/better than the existing cameras that decided I didn’t stop at that stop sign even though the time stamp/distance they recorded would seem to indicate that I did??? (I’m not bitter at all, I don’t know what you’re talking about.)

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

17. Floodbase: …now I’m super curious about what flood data governments & insurance companies already collect. Because my understanding of this type of thing is that government (and insurance companies’) lack of response to this kind of thing is a function of (a lack of) political will, not a lack of data.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

Like when you buy a house there are maps & they tell you if your house is in a floodplain, which is part of how your insurance company determines coverage in the first place. So how is your data different/better than their data? (And different enough to change the politics of it)

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

18. Gecko Robotics: This gets into a question of how much of energy company’s lack of repairs are a function of a lack of knowledge vs. a lack of institutional will(ingress to spend money). Massey Mines & BP's (pre-accident) #OSHA violations indicate it's a lack of willingness to pay.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

20. Kobold Metals: AI for mineral mapping. …oh the places we’ll go. Super curious about the geopolitical implications of *this* product. Cuz like…yeah. I wonder where they’ll find stuff.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

21. LabelBox: …k. Um. Is this AI literally just creating labels? Like you make it sound a lot fancier than that, and maybe you’re talking about very sophisticated labels…Yeah I’m curious what kind of hardware we’re talking about here, because this mostly seems like software…

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

23. Liminal Insights: (see my reaction re: Lumafield, sounds like they’re in a similar space) Same question re: the nominal cost of ultrasound equipment.

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction

Bethany pfp

@quinntersection

24. Locus Robotics: Robots as a service (for warehouses/logistics). Isn’t the economic advantage of robots that if you spend the upfront investment to buy the robot it’ll decrease your labor costs in the long run? Does renting robots save $ or are you straight up stealing jobs?

1 reply

0 recast

0 reaction