Fun announcement!

Starting next week, AI-Curious will be serving up two episodes each week:

1) One long-form interview with thought leaders in the space (what we've been doing for the past week), and..

2) "The Edge," a weekly roundup of AI news. This will be short, punchy, and fun(ish). Each week we'll have one headline topic, and then three quick things. That's it. No muss, no fuss. For busy people who want to stay abreast of key developments in the AI space, but don't want to devote a ton of time to do it.

Gonna be a fun ride!

Happy Anniversary!

Exactly one year ago, we launched AI-Curious. We've published an episode every week since, rain or shine, work or holiday, human or AI. We've spoken with CEOs, philosophers, artists, inventors -- but it all started with a conversation with two Hollywood producers: John Attanasio and Luisa Huang, the cofounders of Toonstar studios.

Toonstar has been using AI for years to make technology -- particularly animation -- easier, cheaper, and faster for creators. This makes it more inclusive. And in the past year they have been VERY busy. So for our one-year anniversary, I wanted to invite John and Luisa back on the pod as our first-ever repeat guests.

Since we spoke, Toonstar launched the hit series StEvEn & Parker, which now has over 30 million weekly YouTube videos. AI is a big part of the story.

We get into the current vibes of AI and Hollywood (the good, the bad, and the contrarian), how projects like StEvEn & Parker help "expand the pie," and much of the nuance of how the industry is thinking about artificial intelligence.

Enjoy the episode and Happy Anniversary.

StEvEn & Parker
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT62Tu2qTUQUsHfo4E0X9_Q

Deadline's story on StEvEn & Parker
https://deadline.com/2024/03/steven-parker-random-house-toonstar-parker-james-deal-1235848736/

Toonstar
https://www.toonstar.com

AI, as even its supporters acknowledge, has many problems today. Just a few: Concerns over data privacy, creators not getting compensated for supplying the data that trains the AI models, lack of trust of Big Tech AI, a shortage of the high-powered chips needed to train AI, debates over censorship, and on and on.

Could Decentralized AI be the answer?

I'm joined today by Mark Rydon, cofounder of Aethir, one of the leading companies in Decentralized AI. Aethir is working, essentially, to make it easier for more people to gain access to the GPUs needed to train AI -- wherever they are on the globe.

Mark and I walk through the current challenges of "centralized" (or Big Tech) AI, consider the merits of a Decentralized approach, take a sober look at the challenges that need to be overcome, and then hear about how Aethir is working to crack the problem.

Fun episode - enjoy!

Aethir:
https://aethir.com/

Mark Rydon on Twitter/X:
https://x.com/MRRydon

Mark Rydon on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrydon/?originalSubdomain=sg