Ray Kurzweil recently released his new book, *The Singularity is Nearer: When We Merge with AI*, a follow-up to his 2006 blockbuster, *The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology*. I had the chance to see him speak at our local bookstore as part of the launch event.

A central theme of Ray’s talks is the exponential growth of computing power—how we’re constantly achieving more computations per second at a constant cost. While exponential curves are easy to discuss and graph, understanding these transformations on a visceral level is challenging. How can we fully grasp the scale of change that exponential growth reflects?

This episode tackles that question, showing the exponential advances in computing power at a fraction of the cost, using examples and everyday objects that everyone can relate to, regardless of technical background.

We’ve all heard that the smartphones in our pockets are far more powerful than the supercomputers of the past. But what does that really mean? How can we quantify, visualize, and bring this leap in technology to life in terms that feel real and relatable? We delve into comparisons—RAM, storage, and power usage—to illustrate the mind-blowing scale of progress and explore what these advances mean for the future of computing.

More importantly, we examine the impact of this rapid growth as we move forward along an ever-steepening exponential curve. Join me as I use everyday items to help us better grasp this extraordinary rate of change, connect with our technological past, and imagine the future as exponential progress continues to shape our lives in profound ways.

Exponential Curves: Supercomputer to Smartphone to Singularity | Turn the Lens podcast with Jeff Frick

#AI #GenAI #ExponentialGrowth #ComputingPower #Future #RayKurzweil #TheSingularity #MooresLaw #AIandFuture #SupercomputerToSmartphone #Change #RateOfChange #FutureOfTech #Rice #Chessboard #Curves #Understand #Visualize #TechEvolution #Exponential #5G #T1 #FLOPS #Bandwidth #Storage #RAM #Visualization #TechForEveryone #SuperComputer #SmartPhone #Singularity #ExponentialCurves #SmartphoneVsSupercomputer #Podcast #TurnTheLens

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meqrxgy435g&list=PLZURvMqWbYjk4hbmcR46tNDdXQlrVZgEn

Transcript and Show Notes

https://www.turnthelenspodcast.com/episode/exponential-curves-supercomputer-to-smartphone-to-singularity-turn-the-lens-ep39

2,500 pages. How can you quickly and easily digest 2,500 pages of material? More than just a summary or table of contents, what if you could dive into the core issues, pull up a timeline, or even create a study guide?

That’s exactly what you can do with Google NotebookLM, a powerful new free AI tool that requires no training, coding, or even RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) expertise to put the power to work on any assets you please. Simply upload your documents, videos, and other digital assets, start asking questions, and let it do the heavy lifting. And if you prefer a podcast format, NotebookLM can even output a podcast style audio file for you to listen to, making content incredibly consumable. Your favorite podcast hosts explaining it all to you during your daily walk, run, or commute.

Recently, a friend introduced me to NotebookLM. At the same time, Jack Smith dropped another 1,600 pages of evidence in four appendices related to the January 6th trial, full of dense assorted text material, tweets, book excerpts, interview transcripts, and pages of redactions to interrupt any sort of consumption flow. Add to that 165 pages in Document #252 and the 845-page January 6th commission report, and I had over 2,500 pages of information to put the NotebookLM to the test. So I uploaded all of it into NotebookLM and started asking questions.

But what I’ve never seen before, and couldn’t wait to try, was the ‘’generate a podcast.’ feature. As a longtime media producer, podcast host, and guest, I was intrigued. How would it turn thousands of pages into a conversational podcast between a host and an educated guest?

I hit "create podcast," and in less than 10 minutes, I had a 15-minute podcast ready to go. I added some simple talking head animation, to give a face to the voice, and hit ‘play.

(the male host sounds a bit like Leo Laporte, legendary long time tech podcast host).

The result is simply amazing.
The podcast is a very digestible way to consume the key points from the all those PDF files. It is an early version, and there are places where the sentence gets divided between the voices a bit more then necessary, but I think you’ll be amazed.

Jump to 03:54 to get to the start of the podcast, within a podcast.

AI and GenAI are accelerating its impact on our lives faster than we realize. These tools are not novelties, they're reshaping the way we work, consume, and generate media, often making information more accessible. We must understand and familiarize ourselves (or master if you can) with them before they get even further ahead. Don’t wait. Start integrating tools like this into your workflow today. Experiment. See what AI can do for you.

We are getting supercomputers in the palm of our hands, that we can talk to, no coding required.

Google NotebookLM: AI, Ingest, Create a Podcast | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick Ep38

#AI #GenAI #NotebookLM #January6th #Podcasting #DataAnalysis #GoogleAI #AIInnovation #JackSmith #Vote #Automation #Supercomputing #TrialAnalysis #Jan6 #DigitalTransformation #TechTools #ContentCreation #Interview #Podcast #TurnTheLens

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi03_cHeuNQ&list=PLZURvMqWbYjk4hbmcR46tNDdXQlrVZgEn

Transcript and Show Notes

https://www.turnthelenspodcast.com/episode/google-notebooklm-ai-ingest-create-a-podcast-turn-the-lens-ep38

Dan Ariely, the renowned behavioral economist, prolific author, frequent TED speaker, and endowed professor at Duke University, has spent decades studying why people behave the way they do. And let’s just say that logic and reasoning do not top the list.

I had the pleasure of seeing Dan speak in person in 2016, and almost a decade later, I was thrilled to host him for this conversation, where we could dive deeper into the drivers of decision making and human behavior. Dan’s latest book, *“Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things,”* served as our catalyst—a topic of historical significance as conspiracy theories seem to be on the rise, in conjunction with declining levels of trust, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. And that was just the tip of the topics iceberg.

Please join me in welcoming Dan Ariely to *Turn the Lens*.

Why do we do what we do? How does the framing of a question influence our answers? How does stress impact decision-making? How well do we know our own preferences, and do we apply them effectively in our choices? What role does resilience play in avoiding the funnel of misbelief? And how is it that two people can experience the same event and yet perceive ’what happened’ entirely differently?

From B.F. Skinner’s groundbreaking research on reinforcement schedules, principles the gambling industry has leveraged into unprecedented revenue heights, to what organizations are missing in "return to office" efforts, from visual illusions to after-the-fact-stories that ‘explain’ actions, to the power of a terminal illness diagnosis in resetting long-held assumptions and life priorities.

Whether you're intrigued by psychology, decision science, or simply want to understand the nuances of human behavior, I promise this episode will provide thought-provoking perspectives and actionable insights. Join us as we unpack the fascinating complexities of human nature and discover how to navigate life’s choices more effectively with Dan Ariely.

Dan Ariely: Decisions, Behavior, Stress, Resilience | Turn the Lens podcast with Jeff Frick, Ep37

#DanAriely #Decisions #Behavior #Stress #Resilience #Bias #Trust #Choices #BehavioralEconomics #Misbelief #HumanBehavior #DecisionMaking #CognitiveBias #ConspiracyTheories #Psychology #BFSkinner #Rationality #Duke #MentalHealth #Economics #ReturnToOffice #BeliefSystems #LifeChoices #Mindset #SocialPerception #Interview #Podcast #TurnTheLens

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQn7QwlXSks&list=PLZURvMqWbYjk4hbmcR46tNDdXQlrVZgEn

Transcript and Show Notes
https://www.turnthelenspodcast.com/episode/dan-ariely-decisions-behavior-stress-resilience-turn-the-lens-ep37