Founders' Journey - Episode 76
Big week of AI events and AI is more than just for mundane tasks
NOTE: I will be moving to only publishing this weekly on LinkedIn - you can access this same newsletter and the backlog of them over here - https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/founders-journey-6967247307557810176/
Hi folks, welcome back to another week of Founders’ Journey. Last week was all about the blockchain stuff, this week it’s all about AI again and what a week it was for events and moving this space forward.
I want to use this newsletter to actually shout out to other amazing founders and supporters in this space who put out nothing but tireless efforts for missions that are far bigger than themselves and who showcased that collaboration is king when it comes to driving nascent spaces like AI forward.
Whilst its arguable over what kind of support we get from government (see Ed Husic’s LinkedIm post here and the subsequent engagement), what we can show, is that with whatever resources we’ve got, we have collaborators coming together to make this week in June, a MASSIVE week for the AI industry in Sydney, and Australia in general.
We started out on Monday with the Build Club AI Pitches. 5 of the 15 showcased projects get to fly to San Francisco and I had a write up on it here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/evening-innovation-collider-tech-central-hosts-showcase-monfort-r0nlc/?trackingId=LhxPdg78wMP45%2BY8OOjpKg%3D%3D
And some photos
Then on Thursday, it was the AI Sprint top 10 showcasing. They were whittled down from 250 applications to 190 in round one, 35 in round two and the top 10 yesterday. My write-up on this is here https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7209676405985411073-SITI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
And photos
So shout outs to Stone & Chalk (who were part of both events), Build Club and their AI pitches on Monday, National AI Centre and Google for their event with Stone & Chalk on Thursday, and the various supporters throughout both journey.
Special shout outs to Annie Liao 🇦🇺 this week as well. As someone who knows what it’s like to grow something with little support to begin with, and do so with nothing but perseverance and sometimes literal blood, sweat and tears, I have so much respect for what she’s created in terms of the Build Club movement, especially as a proponent of grassroots organisations (like I've been involved in building with Australian DeFi Association and Data Science and Ai Association of Australia | DSAi). Whilst it’s great to have large organisations, corporates, not-for-profits and others get involved at the top-end, it takes real believers (especially selfless ones), to help lead, inspire and spark the fire of change that this space needs. So here's to seeing that spark continue to light up.
When Annie was growing this space at the very beginnings of the Build Club, I remember some great conversations we had together about how it could work as she had seen what we’d created with Aus DeFi Association. I’m proud now to have my master becomes student moment because I’ll certainly be going to her for advice when it comes to my new ventures in growing the AI community around the product we built at SIKE.ai.
And with that, let’s dive further into Founders’ Journey with some good old AI rants.
AI Rant: Beyond Mundane Tasks
There's a double-edged sword in thinking of AI solely as a tool for mundane tasks. This perspective can limit our understanding of AI's true potential as a powerful reasoning engine. There's so much more to generative AI than meets the eye.
In this article, when I refer to AI, I'm talking about generative AI, not traditional machine learning. Yes, generative AI is fantastic for automating routine tasks, a narrative that has gained traction partly to alleviate fears of AI taking jobs. Indeed, AI has replaced certain jobs, but more often, it is seen as a tool that alleviates time constraints by performing tasks faster and more consistently than humans. Unlike us, AI doesn't need breaks, doesn't tire, and is always operating at peak performance.
When implemented correctly, AI can unlock human potential, freeing us to tackle more complex and rewarding tasks. While the idea of AI handling mundane tasks is comforting and helps ease societal anxiety, there's another, deeper narrative to consider.
We've also seen a narrative suggesting AI is only for mundane tasks, unsuitable for more sophisticated work. This couldn't be further from the truth. However, this misconception is understandable given the current discourse on AI's role in the workplace (where we’ve seen Klarna use AI as the reason for replacing 700 staff and Telstra say it wasn’t that for its headcount cut at year’s end of 2800, but many reckoning it is).
Let's dive into some real-world examples to illustrate AI's broader capabilities.
Case in Point 1: NotCentralised Projects
In my work at NotCentralised, I often handle projects with a plethora of information. Think of this data as ingredients that need to be combined to create a solution. I use SIKE.ai , especially the Dreams area, as my mixing bowl to experiment and refine these solutions. Like a chef, I adjust the components to achieve the perfect blend.
This approach is particularly effective in our consulting work, where technical expertise is paramount. By providing AI with well-defined, clever context, we can extract powerful insights and solutions that might not have occurred to us otherwise. The specificity and quality of our prompts directly influence the AI's effectiveness. If we're too vague or simplistic, we miss out on its full potential.
Case in Point 2: Blockchain Australia Collaboration
With our friends at Digital Economy Council of Australia (formerl Blockchain Australia), we conducted a series of policy-related roundtable discussions in March on various industry topics to gather the best ideas from experts. The aim was to produce a comprehensive set of recommendations for the government, synthesizing the industry's needs and aspirations. These discussions, held over four venues and spanning 32 hours, were recorded and later analysed.
By feeding these recordings into our AI, we could efficiently analyse the vast amount of content. Combining human-driven recommendations with AI-generated insights led to a more robust and comprehensive report than we could have produced on our own. AI helped us uncover additional recommendations and refine our final document, showcasing its ability to enhance sophisticated tasks.
We’re also doing our bit to help out again given the great work they did with Blockchain Week last week
Here's an example of what we can do with our SIKE when it comes to either ad-hoc discussions with your documents (in this case, budget papers), getting AI agents to run tasks as a project team, and using the power of AI to give you analysis from the mind of a political strategist. This just scratches the surface of possibilities.
So while AI's role in automating mundane tasks is invaluable, we mustn't overlook its potential to revolutionise more complex and creative work. By leveraging AI's full capabilities, we can unlock new levels of productivity and innovation. Let's embrace AI not just as a tool for the mundane, but as a partner in driving sophisticated solutions.
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About me
I’m Mark, an experienced data, finance and technology advocate with an interest in emerging technology especially web3, data and AI. I’m the Director/co-founder of NotCentralised, a venture studio focused on Advisory (enterprise architecture reviews, AI strategy), Product Development and Research and Activations (community building, ecosystem development, etc).
I am co-founder and President of the Aus DeFi Association (web3 advocacy group and community across Australia) as well as advisor to DSAI (the Data Science and AI Association of Australia). I also contribute to both newsletters so keep an eye out for Chain Reaction on Substack (and here on LinkedIn) and AI Chronicles on Medium (and LinkedIn too).