#81 Coursera's Engineer No 1 on Building AI agents for knowledge workers #AI #podcast #aicode #startup

Startup Project Podcast: Building AI Agents for Knowledge Workers with Lutra AI Jiquan Ngiam joins Nataraj to discuss the future of AI, from the rise of deep learning to the potential of AI agents for knowledge workers. They delve into [Guest Name]'s experiences working with Andrew Ng at Coursera and Google Brain, where he witnessed the power of scaling up compute and data in pushing the boundaries of AI. Timestamps: * **0:00 - Introduction:** Nataraj welcomes [Guest Name] to the show and introduces his impressive background. * **2:28 - Working with Andrew Ng:** [Guest Name] shares his experience working with Andrew Ng, emphasizing Ng's foresight and focus on scaling up neural networks. * **6:15 - The Importance of Data and Compute:** [Guest Name] highlights how data and compute became key drivers in the success of AI, using the example of AlexNet's breakthrough in 2012. * **12:25 - Democratizing Education with Coursera:** [Guest Name] discusses the early days of Coursera and the team's vision for democratizing access to education, especially in fields like machine learning. * **17:55 - Google Brain and the Rise of Transformers:** [Guest Name] reflects on his time at Google Brain, where he witnessed the emergence of transformers and their potential for generalizing across modalities. * **21:24 - The Limits of Scaling:** [Guest Name] questions the future of AI scaling, suggesting that we may be approaching a point of diminishing returns due to data limitations and the difficulty of creating truly effective synthetic data. * **28:13 - The Need for Data on Physical Tasks:** [Guest Name] proposes a bold idea: collecting real-world data on mundane tasks to train AI agents for robotics and other applications that require replicating human behavior. * **34:23 - Lutrei.ai: AI Agents for Knowledge Work:** [Guest Name] introduces Lutrei.ai, an AI agent designed to assist knowledge workers with tasks like research, data manipulation, and automation. * **42:49 - Different Approaches to AI Agents:** [Guest Name] compares Lutrei's approach to building AI agents with other common methods, highlighting the importance of separating data and logic for reliable and scalable solutions. * **45:38 - Choosing the Right Models:** [Guest Name] discusses the diverse landscape of AI models and how Lutrei leverages different models for different tasks, from small models for summarization to larger models for reasoning and planning. * **52:04 - AI Code Generation: Cursor vs. GitHub Copilot:** [Guest Name] shares his experience using Cursor, a code generation tool, and compares it to GitHub Copilot, highlighting the potential for AI to empower average developers. * **1:00:16 - The Future of AI Code Generation:** [Guest Name] predicts that AI code generation capabilities will become ubiquitous, and the key innovations will be in user experience and interaction design. * **1:05:43 - Consuming Information:** [Guest Name] shares his favorite sources of information, including podcasts, books, and news outlets. * **1:08:44 - Mentorship and Learning:** [Guest Name] reflects on the key mentors in his career, including Andrew Ng, Daphne Koller, and John Chen. * **1:12:34 - Advice for Early Career Professionals:** [Guest Name] advises young professionals to be voracious learners and prioritize gaining diverse experiences early in their careers. * **1:16:21 - The Motivation Behind Lutrei:** [Guest Name] explains his passion for pushing the boundaries of AI while simultaneously making it accessible and impactful for a wider audience. * **1:18:33 - Closing Thoughts:** Nataraj thanks [Guest Name] for sharing his insights and expresses his excitement for the future of Lutrei.ai. **Don't miss this episode to learn more about the exciting things happening in gen AI and how it's poised to revolutionize the way we work!**