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Harper Carroll: How Machine Learning Works, What AI Engineering is, the Future of AI

Links

- Codecrafters (sponsor): https://tej.as/codecrafters

- React Africa (partner): https://react-africa.com/


- Harper Carroll: https://harpercarrollai.com/

- 10 Days of AI Basics Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie7qxG9os1U&list=PL-ocKywdn6lE9l4LIPL4gMY4nNRfjEswG&pp=iAQB

- Harper on X: https://x.com/harperscarroll

- Isabelle Boemeke on X: https://x.com/isabelleboemeke

- Tejas on X: https://x.com/tejaskumar_


Summary


In this enlightening conversation with Harper Carroll, we dove deep into the world of AI, covering everything from the basics of neural networks to the cutting-edge concepts of AI agents. Harper's expertise, stemming from her 10 years of Stanford education, provided invaluable insights into the inner workings of machine learning models.


We explored the environmental impact of AI and the potential role of nuclear energy in sustaining AI development. Harper's balanced view on AI's future was refreshing, emphasizing its potential for optimization rather than doom-and-gloom scenarios. The discussion concluded with thought-provoking reflections on AI's potential to free humanity for more creative pursuits and its possible connection to fundamental universal principles of peace and love.


Chapters


00:00:00 Intro

00:06:09 What is AI?

00:11:34 Machine Learning Deep Dive

00:17:08 Impostor Syndrome

00:22:11 Machine Learning Deep Dive Continued

00:28:04 What are Hidden Layers?

00:34:29 Model Architectures

00:37:04 How do embeddings models work?

00:40:23 AI Engineering Deep Dive

00:48:06 Smaller specialized models vs. LLMs (Large Language Models)

00:49:57 Hallucinations and RAG

00:52:16 Fine-tuning a model and blends

00:55:24 RAG vs. Fine-tuning

01:00:31 RAG Explained

01:04:15 Machine Learning Evals

01:10:28 Backpropagation

01:12:44 AI Agents

01:16:25 Agentic RAG

01:17:51 AI and Energy: The rise of nuclear power

01:25:06 AI Optimism vs. Doomerism

01:31:27 AGI and Superintelligence

01:36:22 Hope for the future with AI

01:41:03 Conclusion


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