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This document aims to: Provide a high-level understanding of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and how it works. Go deeper on LLMs (Large Language Models) and why they’re important. Help you create a prediction framework for the intelligence level of AI over time. Highlight the non-linear impact of AI on business, government and politics. The second part of the document is more…
Machine Learning systems notes. Some ‘ML’ math at the start, hardware stuff in the middle, training/inference and optimizations at the back. LLMs TBD. Linear Models Simplest linear model: $$ y = mx + b $$ $$ y = 2x + 3 $$ Where ‘x’ is the input, and ’m’ is the parameter in the context of machine learning. A multivariable linear function generates a plane. In…
[This is a bunch of bullet points on managing managers and teams, and that ended up being the foundation of a large set of ‘mental models’ I wrote. More on how to do that later…] Preface: Congratulations! Our desire for organizational stability is our worst instinct. Seeing an org as a fixed cost is precisely the wrong mindset, you should be creative with your organization and…
This is my mental model for hiring people into an established organization. TLDR: it’s about the courtship, how well the individuals career story fits with the opportunity, and overcoming uncertainty] Philosophy and Principles The goal is multivariate optimization: the multi-year experience of the person you’re trying to hire; the teams future experience with the addition of this…
I was watching “The half of it” on Netflix over the weekend (a lighthearted comedy-drama written by an ex-Microsoft software engineer-turned-writer, Alice Wu ) and a scene in the movie just happened to succinctly summarize a common problem I see almost daily at work. The smart loner Ellie, is trying to coach popular-jock Paul, on the art of conversation so that Paul can charm his high…
Regularly writing down both what I’m thinking and how I think about things has been the highest impact career tool I’ve learned to date (it’s up there with learning Vim). It helps me get ‘unstuck’ when I’m uncertain, understand my reactions to events, and teach and grow my colleagues. The what and how parts are distinctive, with how being the most important.…