Andrew Maddox

Category: AI

  • The Ups and Downs of AI

    Financial

    Last month, OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit public-benefit corporation lifted Microsoft’s valuation past $4T. CEO Sam Altman continues to travel the world for funding deals, and October was a busy month for him. Technology contrarian Ed Zitron calculates OpenAI’s cash needs over the next 12 months to be $400B, but Fed Chairman Powell dispels the connection between AI funding boom and Dotcom crash: “I won’t go into particular names, but they actually have earnings.” (Fortune).

    Criticism abounded as OpenAI’s CFO opened a can of worms by suggesting government guarantees for data centers, only for Altman to walk these claims back. Critics of OpenAI are raising alarms.

    Why does this matter?

    If you have a retirement account, you’ll likely care about a potential stock market correction or crash. Aside from that, the financing of AI data centers has tentacles into other companies and industries (Oracle, Google, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, power companies, etc.), so downturns and bankruptcies would likely lead to market disruption. For higher education, there are considerations about AI model pricing, and stock market fluctuations can affect giving to non-profit organizations.

    …

    AI & Productivity

    Amazon & UPS announced layoffs at the end of last month. From Amazon SVP, Beth Galetti: “This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones).” Analyst Gil Luria suggests “companies appear to be making the cuts partly to hold their overall profit margins steady while they spend tens of billions of dollars on A.I. infrastructure like data centers. Cutting back on employees is a way to convince shareholders.”

    But Luria also notes: “[w]e do think that at some point A.I. tools will allow us to enhance productivity to a point that we’re going to need less labor, but we’re not there yet, not in any significant way.” But another way of thinking about AI & productivity is not merely task augmentation but as something that enables creativity. From developer Aaron Boodman:

    “Claude doesn’t make me much faster on the work that I am an expert on. Maybe 15-20% depending on the day. It’s the work that I don’t know how to do and would have to research.

    Or the grunge work I don’t even want to do. On this it is hard to even put a number on.

    Many of the projects I do with Claude day to day I just wouldn’t have done at all pre-Claude. Infinity% improvement in productivity on those.“

    (Emphasis mine)

    Why does this matter?

    As I mentioned in an earlier post, the potential of a J curve for AI productivity gains is one that some economists suggest. Although productivity gains aren’t yet visible, there is growing anecdotal data to suggest structural changes in work, particularly in visual and technical fields. 

    …

    AI & Higher Education

    Wharton Human-AI Research reported that many enterprises have incorporated AI tools into employees’ daily work and are no longer exploratory in nature.

    Higher ed, meanwhile, is not using AI to the same degree. Only 2% of Student Success Leaders say their institutions are very effective at using AI. Their measure is subjective, but the picture is suggestive that AI adoption in higher education is slower than in industry (for good or for ill). Higher ed Leaders are exploring governance and policy, a task likely to be difficult for wrangling fast-moving AI technological advancements. 

    What does this matter?

    Universities continue to explore using AI, but at a pace slower than industry. There are opportunities for universities to participate in both the conversations framing the use of AI and the practical use of the tools.

  • Wednesday (AI) Links (Nov. 12)

  • Monday (AI) Links (Nov. 10)

  • Friday (AI) Links (Nov. 7)

  • Various (AI) Links (Nov. 6)

  • Tuesday AI Links (Nov. 4)

  • Various (AI) Links (Nov. 2)

  • Various (AI) Links (Oct. 31)

  • The Atlantic: Tilly Norwood Is Not Ready for Its Closeup

    Yesterday, I posted about AI as the Bicycle of the Mind, suggesting that AI could be democratizing, particularly for lower budget filmmakers: “AI tools have the potential to unlock more creativity for countless filmmakers who aren’t named Spielberg or Lucas.”

    Today, I saw the The Atlantic article, Tilly Norwood Is Not Ready for Its Closeup (October 25, 2025). Sharon Waxman’s conclusion is that AI isn’t ready…yet.

    But ultimately, as Tilly Norwood demonstrated and insiders affirmed, the AI models available just aren’t Hollywood-caliber—yet. “Hollywood studios have a very, very high bar of technical quality that AI currently doesn’t get. But it will,” Weintrob said.

    Netflix, however, seems to be committed to expediting the improvement of AI quality:

    This month, Netflix announced that it is merging its visual-effects studio, Scanline, with its research lab, Eyeline, to expedite its own AI-led efforts. The race to get ahead goes on.

    But I think the most interesting part is Waxman’s conversation with low-budget producers:

    Producers—mainly of low-budget films rather than major studio productions—told me that the technology is helping them reduce their spending on visual effects.

  • The Bicycle of the Mind

    Steve Jobs famously described the computer as a “bicycle for the mind.” In an interview decades ago, he compared the efficiency of various species traveling a mile, noting that humans were far from the most efficient.

    But when you gave a human a bicycle, the energy required to travel that same distance dropped dramatically — surpassing nearly every other creature. He then talked about humans as tool builders.

    Jobs used this analogy to explain how computers empower people and “amplify” human creativity, allowing us to do extraordinary things. Looking at technology today, it’s clear his prediction was on the mark. Computers have indeed enabled humans to create, design, and communicate in ways that were once unimaginable. Reach into your pocket (or purse) and grab your smartphone. That phone is far more than a device used to make calls. Personally, I have over 25,000 photos and several thousand videos.

    Computers have given rise to entirely new professions — designers, photographers, programmers, content marketers — jobs that simply didn’t exist a generation ago. The same appears likely with AI.

    AI: The Next Bicycle of the Mind

    Artificial intelligence tools represent another step in human tool building. AI has the potential to democratize creativity in ways that were previously unthinkable.

    Just weeks ago, OpenAI released Sora 2 (following Google’s Nano Banana) that similarly focused on image feature fidelity. These systems allow creators to upload a photo of a person and generate remarkably accurate, lifelike images — trying on different outfits, hairstyles, or even placing themselves in imaginative settings, a huge leap from earlier models. You can create fantastical scenes — climbing Mount Everest, eating dinner on the Titanic, etc. — things that defy reality but are fun. These tools give everyone, not just professional artists, the ability to create.

    There are dedicated apps for Sora and Meta AI, both of which have a growing amount of AI-generated photos and videos (and a lot of AI slop).

    Creative Industries and AI

    The implications go far beyond personal creativity. Filmmakers, for instance, can now generate entire scenes — a cheering crowd, a packed stadium — with minimal cost. What once required massive budgets and production teams (here’s a story about the stadiums in Ted Lasso) can now be achieved with AI tools.

    George Lucas waited more than 10 years between Star Wars: Episode VI and Episode I because the technology he needed to capture his creative vision simply didn’t exist. After seeing Jurassic Park, he realized that computer-generated imagery had advanced enough to make his vision possible. AI tools have the potential to unlock more creativity for countless filmmakers who aren’t named Spielberg or Lucas.

    The Productivity Curve

    Economist Jason Furman recently discussed the possibility of a productivity J-curve in relation to AI — where initial productivity may decline as we adopt these tools, but long-term gains will follow. 

    Filmmakers adopting AI today may not see immediate results — it takes years to produce a film — but these technologies are entering creative pipelines now. In a few years, we should begin seeing the results: imaginative, visually stunning works produced at lower costs. (As an aside, the WSJ reports on the new film company, B5 Studios, that plans to  create content more quickly with less expensive.)

    The same pattern applies to app development and web creation. Coding agents like OpenAI’s Codex or Anthropic’s Claude Code are dramatically lowering barriers for developers, and Anthropic lists their customers who have built using Claude with impressively good examples. Apple is integrating Claude Code into Xcode, paving the way for a new wave of iPhone apps from creators who previously lacked the resources to build them.

    AI in Education and Creativity

    For university and educational institutions, these advances offer tremendous opportunities. Creative professionals can produce higher-quality work with fewer resources. Students in creative programs can now create visually rich, engaging projects that would have been technically or financially impossible just a few years ago.

    And the possibilities extend beyond visual arts and programming into writing. Every aspiring writer now has access to an editor, proofreader, and creative partner through AI. A budding novelist can write a first chapter and instantly receive feedback, grammatical corrections, and stylistic suggestions. AI becomes a bicycle for the mind — not replacing editors, but extending editorial support to those who previously lacked such resources.

    Of course, professional authors like John Grisham and JK Rowling will continue to rely on human editors and publishers. But for new authors, AIcan help them polish their work and realize their creative ideas.

    The Human Potential

    As leaders, the challenge is to encourage people to see these tools not as job killers or creativity crushers, but as amplifiers of human potential. AI, like the computer before it, can help extend human flourishing.

    It’s a tool that can make us more creative, more expressive, and more capable of bringing our ideas to life. Like the bicycle that allows humans to move faster and farther than ever before, AI is the next great vehicle for the mind — empowering us to go places we never could have reached on our own.