AI & I

Lucas Crespo, Every’s creative lead who designs product visuals and uses AI tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT. He talks about Every’s neoclassical pop-art aesthetic, balancing classical motifs with saturated modern elements. He explores how AI is shifting design toward art direction, reimagining websites as experience-driven spaces, and the practical Midjourney-first workflows behind Every’s cover art.

AI forces us to reckon with what makes us human—a question caught between science and spirituality that MIT’s Dr. Alan Lightman is uniquely placed to explore.Dr. Lightman is a physicist, bestselling novelist, and professor of the practice of humanities at MIT. As one of the first at MIT to hold a joint faculty position in both the sciences and the humanities, he’s at ease walking the line between the two disciplines.I loved Dr. Lightman’s book Einstein’s Dreams, so I was psyched to have him on the show. We spent an hour talking about:Being a “spiritual materialist”: Dr. Lightman’s philosophy that knowing the scientific explanation for natural phenomena—like spiderwebs and lightning bolts—deepens our experience and feeling of wonder.The nature of consciousness: He believes that consciousness is a subjective experience emerging from the tangible activity of billions of neurons firing in our brains.AI isn’t conscious, even though it might appear to be: AI might display manifestations of consciousness—like the ability to plan for the future—but whether it has an inner experience in the truest sense is a fundamentally different question.Challenge your conceptions of what “natural” means: Dr. Lightman argues that since humans evolved through natural selection, everything our brains create—from eyeglasses and hearing aids to AI—can be considered “natural” as they are inevitable consequences of our naturally evolved intelligenceAI that can do more than just data retrieval: Modern neural networks begin to approximate something resembling genuine thinking because the “digital neurons” process information in complex, non-linear ways.Evolution that blurs the lines between biology and technology: Dr. Lightman argues we’re driving our own evolution toward the “homo techno,” hybrid beings that merge human and machine; early examples include brain implants that enable paralyzed individuals to control robotic limbs.Dr. Lightman also recently published a new book called The Miraculous From the Material, a collection of essays that combine scientific explanations of natural phenomena with his personal reflections on them. It has tons of striking pictures that you should check out.This is a must watch for anyone interested in science, spirituality, and what it means to be human in the age of AI. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps:Introduction: 00:01:18Science can deepen your sense of the spiritual: 00:02:36The nature of consciousness: 00:11:31AI might appear to be conscious, but it isn’t: 00:13:11Why AI can be considered to be “natural”: 00:19:50AI shifts the focus of science from explanations to predictions: 00:30:40How modern neural networks simulate thinking: 00:33:48Lightman’s vision for how humans and machines will merge: 00:39:38 Does AI know more about love than you?: 00:43:11How technology is accelerating the pace of our lives: 00:49:18Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Alan Lightman: https://cmsw.mit.edu/alan-lightman/ Lightman’s books: The Miraculous From the Material, Einstein's DreamsHis documentary: Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of ScienceWalt Whitman’s poem: When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

Jonny Miller, the creator of Nervous System Mastery and host of the Curious Humans podcast, reveals his innovative approach to personal optimization by uploading his life to ChatGPT as a Codex Vitae. He discusses how AI customizes coaching in meditation and wellness, helping him pursue 'aliveness' over revenue. Jonny dives into the challenges of multitasking, deep research ranging from family relocations to Pokémon and shamanism, and the use of AI in personal development, highlighting its potential to revolutionize coaching and self-awareness.

I interviewed the Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy on AI & I. We spent an hour talking about his vision for AI in government, economic development, and the regulatory challenges ahead. His approach is refreshingly pragmatic: Spark real innovation at scale. Governor Murphy is laying the groundwork through an AI hub that pools the strengths of the government, academia (Princeton University), legacy tech (Microsoft), and next-gen players (CoreWeave). Creating a place for the brightest minds to live and work. He’s making the Garden State irresistible for the best talent through walkable communities, legal recreational cannabis, and an angel investment tax credit.AI that augments teams, instead of replacing them. The Governor sees AI as an “accelerant” that enables teams to do more with the same number of employees. He’s walking the talk by training 61,000 NJ state employees in AI to automate busy work and free them to focus on strategic tasks.An integrated regulatory framework for AI. He believes that a technology as pervasive as AI should be regulated at a national level because the state-by-state approach could stifle innovation. Governor Phil Murphy is the first governor I’ve ever had on the show and I was honored he took the time to come on. I was also especially excited to do this because I grew up in New Jersey! This is a must watch for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and policy.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps:Introduction: 00:02:00Why there should be a nation-wide framework to regulate AI: 00:04:31How 61,000 state employees in New Jersey are adopting AI: 00:10:34Why new tech is key to transforming government services: 00:12:20The Governor is bringing startups back to New Jersey: 00:17:30How to stimulate innovation at scale: 00:25:28The Governor is making New Jersey a top choice for the best talent: 00:33:07Balancing technological progress while ensuring the workforce isn’t left behind: 00:36:56We’re moving toward an “allocation economy”: 00:41:39The Governor’s take on international regulation of AI: 00:43:43Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Governor Phil Murphy: @GovMurphyMore about the New Jersey AI Hub: https://njaihub.org/ 

In this engaging conversation, Steve Schlafman, a former VC and founder of @downshift, shares his innovative approach to personal growth using AI. He reveals how he leverages ChatGPT for dream analysis, pulling out archetypes and emotions for deeper self-understanding. Steve emphasizes the importance of integrating feelings and imagination with rational thought. He also discusses the transformative power of voice interfaces and personal narratives in enhancing self-awareness and navigating emotional patterns. Perfect for those curious about AI's role in emotional exploration!

Mike Maples, a veteran venture investor and co-founder of Floodgate, shares insights on AI startups and strategic advantages over giants like OpenAI. He reveals the importance of counter-positioning and adapting to technological inflections that reshape business models. Discussing outcome-based pricing and cultural shifts, Mike emphasizes how smaller teams can innovate faster. He also explores the balance between integrated and modular solutions, and how AI transforms product development and fundraising, giving startups an edge in a competitive landscape.

Michael Taylor, creator of Rally and co-author of a prompt engineering book, shares how he uses AI to replicate customer responses, revolutionizing market research. He discusses simulating audience behavior to A/B test headlines, ensuring valuable insights before launch. The conversation highlights AI's potential in understanding consumer profiles while stressing the importance of precise prompts. Michael's tinkerer mindset illuminates the challenges and future of AI, including balancing automation with human creativity, as he demonstrates the power of his innovative tool live.

Nat Eliason, entrepreneur and writer who builds businesses around new tools and trends. He talks about creating a viral AI app-building course that made $200,000 in a week. He demos AI-powered coding with Cursor, shares tactics for managing agent workflows, and explores AI tools for writing, editing, and solo-creator product strategies.

Guillermo Rauch is one of the most prolific coders of this generation. But he doesn’t think of himself as a coder anymore. Coding, he says, is a specific skill that AI is becoming great at. Instead, he thinks the future of coding is more holistic, full-stack engineers who can ideate, design, and execute all together. Guillermo is the founder and CEO of Vercel, the creator of NextJS, and SocketIO. We spent an hour talking about the future of software development in an AI world—and the meta-skills that are essential for the coders of today to master—in order to use tomorrow’s tools to their fullest extent.Here are a few takeaways:One of the most important keys to his success is taste—and developing taste is all about paying better attention to everything you experience day to day.He’s great at recognizing bleeding-edge technologies with extremely practical applications but that have bad user experiences. If you can learn to recognize those and build with them, you might build the next NextJs or SocketIO.He’s already seeing enterprises use Vercel’s AI coding copilot v0 to replace all of their programming—they just send v0 demos back and forth to iterate on new prototypes. Why prototype cultures are becoming common in AI—and the benefits of written cultures like Amazon vs. prototype cultures like Apple for different kinds of companies.For developers building frameworks, always put the product first; a framework in isolation without a “customer zero” is never going to be a good tool.The theory of “recursive founder mode”—if you want to build a scalable business, you have to scale yourself by creating an atmosphere that nurtures talent and ambition.AI tools are shifting software toward consumption-based billing models, making us capital allocators who decide how much compute the AI consumes.The future of AI is agents with the taste, knowledge, and tools to perform specialized tasks.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Guillermo Rauch: @rauchgVercel: https://vercel.com/ Last week’s episode with Nabeel Hyatt: 🎧 The Venture Capitalist Who Finds the Best AI Products—Before They Win Dan’s essay about the allocation economy: The Knowledge Economy Is Over. Welcome to the Allocation Economy 

AGI is coming. Reid Hoffman just wrote the book on how to prepare.According to Reid, every major tech breakthrough (the written word, the printing press, the telephone) triggered mass fear. But, contrary to our worries, new technology tends to enhance human agency—even more so, if you know how to use it well.In Superagency, his book that was released yesterday, Reid examines how we’ve historically adopted new technologies and focuses on AI’s potential to increase our agency—the ability to make decisions that affect outcomes. He wrote the book for two audiences: anyone who is curious, or even skeptical, about AI; and technologists who are building in AI, with the hope that they will think about human agency as a design principle for their products. As someone who straddles both worlds, I read the book and really liked it.Beyond being a prolific author, Reid is the cofounder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI; a partner at venture capital firm Greylock Partners; an early backer and board member of OpenAI; and an award-winning podcaster—and I was pleased to invite him onto AI & I again, this time in person. We recorded an hour-long conversation, going deep on:The notion of human agency, how our sense of agency shapes our response to new technologies, and its interplay with uncertaintyWhy Reid believes that private commons and equitable access to AI will be beneficial for society at largeHow the history of AI mirrors a philosophical shift in how we understand intelligence, from trying to program explicit rules about how thinking works, to building systems that learn patterns from dataReid’s take on how the next decade of AI will involve a play between rule-based systems and pattern-matching ones   It’s a must-watch for anyone who wants to help build a more human future with AI. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipperLinks to resources mentioned in the episode:Reid Hoffman: @reidhoffmanSuperagency, Reid’s newest book: https://www.superagency.ai/