Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#11

Post by logarhythmic » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

ausbah wrote: post #5

I personally liked the podcast before he rebranded it around himself. Lex is a good host who is smart enough to hold conversations with his guests, but the main appeal was always still the guests as it was the only podcast I was aware of that has only experts in CS and related fields to talk about AI and other topics he still does this under the newer iteration of his podcast, but since shifting it to "the smart man'…

Pretty sure he did this because MIT was not officially affiliated with the podcast

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#12

Post by superbcarrot » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:05 PM UTC

slap_shot wrote: post #4

I've only heard Lex Fridman speak a few times on the Joe Rogan Experince, and I can't help but feel like he's a bullshit artist. Maybe it's just him trying to simplify things for Joe. I see that he has a PhD in CS from Drexel and is an "AI Researcher" at MIT. Has anybody listened to enough of his podcast to verify that he actually has anything meaningful to say in the realm of AI?

The bigger problem with the podcast isn't his credentials or AI knowledge, it's how dry his delivery and presence are and how he basically reads off a prepared list of questions instead of having a conversation with his guests. And also the insistance to ask questions about life being a simulation and the meaning of life. He is a really poor interviewer but he has had a great selection of guests on the podcast.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#13

Post by hfkldjsjfkdj » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

Lex Fridman is a guy who talks about being open minded and humble then proceeds to block everyone that doesn't share the same set of opinions. Seems only capable of asking the same set of questions as well.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#14

Post by filleokus » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:19 PM UTC

bonoboTP wrote: post #9

slap_shot wrote: post #4

I've only heard Lex Fridman speak a few times on the Joe Rogan Experince, and I can't help but feel like he's a bullshit artist. Maybe it's just him trying to simplify things for Joe. I see that he has a PhD in CS from Drexel and is an "AI Researcher" at MIT. Has anybody listened to enough of his podcast to verify that he actually has anything meaningful to say in the realm of AI?

Why do you put it in quotes? He did AI research and published papers at MIT, also he taught a (or more) Deep Learning course at MIT with lots of participants, the lecture recordings are available on YouTube. I think it's quite clear he knows his stuff and isn't a bullshit artist at all. He is well prepared for the interviews, he listens intently and asks important and curious questions to high profile researchers. Th…

I've only listened to a dozen or so episodes, mostly non-AI related, but I can't really get a grasp on wether Friedman remembers any undergraduate level CS (or more advanced software engineering for that matter).

Maybe it's just a schtick to make it more approachable for "non-HN" listeners, but in the episode with Jim Keller it almost became painful. After all Friedman has a PhD in Computer Science, I would have expected more knowledge in some areas.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#15

Post by stockholm » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:31 PM UTC

hfkldjsjfkdj wrote: post #13

Lex Fridman is a guy who talks about being open minded and humble then proceeds to block everyone that doesn't share the same set of opinions. Seems only capable of asking the same set of questions as well.

Can you give examples? I don’t see how you can persuade people to see your point with this very hollow statement.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#16

Post by jansan » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:32 PM UTC

Ok, someone has to do it and say something positive about Lex Fridman in this hostile environment. I like Lex Fridman a lot. I have not watched many of his broadcasts, but almost all of the ones I watched were excellent. The guests were exceptional people (Jim Keller, James Gosling, Dilep George) and Lex lets them talk most of the time while just navigating a bit an making sure that even listeners not familiar with the subject can follow.

Also, I like that he is not trying to be everybody's darling: https://youtu.be/_hni6uuorKk?t=367

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#17

Post by jansan » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:34 PM UTC

hfkldjsjfkdj wrote: post #13

Lex Fridman is a guy who talks about being open minded and humble then proceeds to block everyone that doesn't share the same set of opinions. Seems only capable of asking the same set of questions as well.

If you make this accusation, shoul should provide some proof to back it up.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#18

Post by libertine » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

ausbah wrote: post #5

I personally liked the podcast before he rebranded it around himself. Lex is a good host who is smart enough to hold conversations with his guests, but the main appeal was always still the guests as it was the only podcast I was aware of that has only experts in CS and related fields to talk about AI and other topics he still does this under the newer iteration of his podcast, but since shifting it to "the smart man'…

I see it the other way around: I started to enjoy more the podcast after he rebranded it.

The man put it out there about him feeling constrained about pursuing different types of guests that he was genuinely curious about, but that felt out of space within the realm of the previous branding.

Better yet - he put a lot of these decisions up to vote to his community, that he clearly feels that he owes them everything. Basically the feedback of the community was positive towards this change - and he seems really happy about it!

So now he brings guests with different types of backgrounds, from AI to Quantum Physics, where he dares to ask question about what he thinks are more profound/out of the box questions.

He knew this shift wasn't going to appeal everyone, and that's fine. It's impossible to please everyone, and he saw this path a way for him to grow and explore even though he would lose some following (clearly a small portion).

I'm really happy for him, and it's a joy to see someone put themselves out there, to risk it, and grow!

And guess what, maybe he left a void to be filled - the same void he filled that allowed him to do his own thing.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#19

Post by hfkldjsjfkdj » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

jansan wrote: post #17

hfkldjsjfkdj wrote: post #13

Lex Fridman is a guy who talks about being open minded and humble then proceeds to block everyone that doesn't share the same set of opinions. Seems only capable of asking the same set of questions as well.

If you make this accusation, shoul should provide some proof to back it up.

I'm not exactly going to curate a list of blocks. All I will say is make any constructive criticism towards him, or one of the things he seems to love such as Musk and chances are you will be blocked. He seems to even block other researchers who have never interacted with him.

Re: Show HN: Lex Fridman AI Podcast Search

#20

Post by mhh__ » Sun, Jan 17, 2021, 2:50 PM UTC

His interview with Jim Keller is a real waste. He's not a bad interviewer, but having Jim Keller's once in a blue moon interview done by someone who doesn't even know what branch prediction is a loss.

I have no reason to believe he isn't a good AI researcher, but he doesn't seem to know much about programming - that a branch predictor that just predicts what happened last time next time gets it right about 80% of the time is pretty obvious if you imagine that 90% or more of instructions executed happen in loops.