Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…
Chris and Kim talk about going to weddings, honesty with your health provider, and Chris celebrates 8 months of sobriety. This episode is brought to you by betterhelp.com/ddgd . Support the podcast by supporting your mental health.
Comedian Ali Sultan comes on to talk movies, activism, comedy, and accents! This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.com/ddgd - Support the podcast by supporting your mental health.
The gang pays respect to Eddie Van Halen, Riley stops by, and boobies. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com/ddgd . Support the podcast by supporting your mental health.
Alex Zooms in cause he got the AIDS, Chris bombs, and Mara co-hosts! Support the podcast! Subscribe and share! Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/duck-duck-gray-duke
Esteemed author Rachel Levy joins us to talk childhood, story writing, and her new book Rivers of Eden! Pre-order here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0Jlz29GNZK1DA5V9-EAWK889D2IQP7z9NVpay3K25MGv3UA/viewform
Author and fellow addict in recovery Brittany Taltos comes on to share her story and to talk about her book, "Girl, Wasted." Get her book here: https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Wasted-Addiction-Obsession-Redemption/dp/0578722992#ace-g6796040015
We finally had a licensed drug and alcohol counselor on and we learned so much that I didn't want to cut too much out, so we are splitting it into 2 parts! We hope you enjoy our conversation with Missy this week!