Cornell AI history lecture

Hyung Won discusses the concept of leverage and how AI is a new form of it. He begins by highlighting humanity's difficulty in perceiving slow changes, which leads to underestimating AI's impact. He defines leverage as a mechanism where a small input results in a large output, referencing Naval Ravikant's three types of leverage: human labor, capital, and code/media. He argues that AI is becoming a significant leverage mechanism, enhancing individual learning and enabling AI agents to perform tasks, thereby supercharging individuals and small teams. Furthermore, AI can act as a leverage at the humanities level by accelerating scientific advances through knowledge synthesis and idea generation, ultimately augmenting human capabilities and driving progress.