Chris Impey is a writer based in New York City. He's interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time.


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Chris Impey

Emma Hazel is a writer based in New York City. He's interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time.


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Emma Hazel

Thomas Macaulay is a writer based in New York City. He's interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time.


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### The AGI hype train has hit some heavy traffic.

While futurists and fundraisers used to make bullish predictions about artificial general intelligence, they’ve become quieter lately. Peter Thiel — the tech billionaire and rumored vampire — says Silicon Valley big brains have lost enthusiasm for AGI.

“Elon’s not talking about it anymore and Larry Page is off to Fiji and doesn’t seem to be working on it quite as hard,” Thiel said at a recent event.

While futurists and fundraisers used to make bullish predictions about artificial general intelligence, they’ve become quieter lately. Peter Thiel — the tech billionaire and rumored vampire — says Silicon Valley big brains have lost enthusiasm for AGI.

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Thiel described Musk as “a weathervane for the zeitgeist,” who’s stopped talking about AGI because interest has declined.

Scientists are also increasingly skeptical. A recent study paper posited that AGI is “in principle impossible,” while other researchers have mocked the term’s proponents.

“I have yet to come across work on AGI that I can take seriously,” tweeted Abeba Birhane, a cognitive scientist based at University College Dublin.

### The path towards AGI increasingly appears — at best — a long one.

Imbuing machines with human-like intelligence remains immensely challenging. As Melanie Mitchell, a computer science professor at Portland State University noted in a preprint paper published last year on arXiv:


>Since its beginning in the 1950s, the field of artificial intelligence has cycled several times between periods of optimistic predictions and massive investment
<cite>Alexender Toto</cite>

Critics fear that another AI winter is coming. Hyping AGI helped spurred enormous investment in artificial intelligence, but overconfident predictions could be detrimental to progress in the field — if the real-world advances prove disappointing.

While futurists and fundraisers used to make bullish predictions about artificial general intelligence, they’ve become quieter lately. Peter Thiel — the tech billionaire and rumored vampire — says Silicon Valley big brains have lost enthusiasm for AGI.

The AGI hype train is running out of steam


Lithium-ion batteries have played a vital role in the development of electric vehicles and we love them for that. But at the same time, lithium is expensive to produce, unstable in high temperatures, and a finite resource whose mining often comes with supply chain problems.

Battery researchers and manufacturers have been assiduously searching for a more sustainable replacement. One intriguing alternative they’ve discovered is another chemical element: sodium.

### The reason some bootcamp grads are set up to fail

* In my experience, not all bootcamps are created equal. They vary widely in acceptance processes, curriculum, program structure, and quality of instructors. They’re designed to push candidates through courses that will have them writing some code fairly quickly.

* As a result, programs are forced to strip away a lot of fundamentals — those basics that help developers understand the “why” behind the code they’re writing.

* When young software developers learn by copying and pasting, it can make troubleshooting difficult when they come across something that doesn’t fit the pattern they’re used to.

* Small businesses and startups are those most likely to hire developers without degrees, but I’ve seen too many bootcamp grads take jobs at startups only to find they haven’t learned enough to make any real impact.

### 1. Look for bootcamp grads with personal projects

The best bootcamp grads are those who already considered themselves hobbyists. They didn’t enter a program expecting to learn everything they needed to know in 12 weeks.

They were already passionate about software development and enrolled in a bootcamp for some structure and guidance, and to level up their skills.

### 2. Adjust your interview process to test for fundamentals

Because bootcamps are, by nature, time-constrained programs, some will blow right past the heavy lifting of helping developers understand why things work the way they do.

The result is that some graduates come out of bootcamps using pattern recognition as their primary skill and an understanding of how to get by with copying and pasting code.

### 3. Hire natural problem solvers and nurture their intellectual curiosity

All engineering is problem-solving. Junior developers won’t be architecting anything right away, but you should look for people who show a predilection for understanding the problem they’re trying to solve and evaluating potential paths forward.

Even when your newest developers are working as order takers, they should be thinking critically about why those orders are issued. A good mentor can help initiate those conversations about the “why” behind each assignment and help new hires see what they might be missing.

### 4. Set new hires up for success with appropriate oversight

If you’re hiring someone fresh out of bootcamp, don’t expect them to come in and start developing complex applications by themselves. Most bootcamp grads have never worked in a real-world programming environment before, and you can’t expect them to be self-directed from day one.

You need a strong new-hire onboarding process and support system that makes new hires feel comfortable asking questions and continuing to learn.


Lithium-ion batteries have played a vital role in the development of electric vehicles and we love them for that. But at the same time, lithium is expensive to produce, unstable in high temperatures, and a finite resource whose mining often comes with supply chain problems.

Machine

The AGI hype train is running out of steam

3 reasons why sodium-ion batteries may dethrone lithium