Your Weekly Dose of “Data-Driven Optimism”
This is your antidote to all the pessimistic news you’re bombarded with every day. My goal is to share with you a handful of the incredible science and tech advancements that are positively transforming our world.
Below are my top five picks – the breakthroughs creating abundance and uplifting humanity.
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We are living during the most extraordinary time ever. Please remember that creating an Abundance Mindset and an Exponential Mindset starts with the news you read every day.
Neuralink's Blindsight: Curing Blindness & Much More
What It Is: Elon Musk's Neuralink has achieved a notable milestone: their Blindsight implant received the FDA's "breakthrough device" designation. This chip aims to restore vision by directly stimulating the visual cortex, potentially benefiting those who have lost sight or were born blind. Elon envisions evolving capabilities, from basic visual input to enhanced perception. While ambitious, the technology faces substantial challenges, particularly for congenitally blind individuals. A planned three-patient trial will evaluate its efficacy and safety. This development could revolutionize treatment for certain types of blindness and advance our understanding of neural interfaces.
Why It Matters / What I Think: This is “biblical” in nature—curing blindness. But beyond the obvious uses, I’m excited about a MUCH more exciting future. Imagine being able to use your Blindsight implant to see through the eyes of an Optimus robot on the other side of the planet. Or being able to enhance your vision, seeing the world in infrared, ultraviolet or in zoom-mode, based on special wearables. Just as interesting will be “picture-in-picture” mode on your visual field... Reading your texts and emails, super-imposed on whatever you are watching at the moment. The future is going to be stranger than we can imagine.
Robotaxis vs. Human Drivers: Waymo's 84% Safety
What It Is: Waymo's groundbreaking data reveals a seismic shift in road safety. Their self-driving cars boast 84% fewer serious crashes than human drivers, with only five airbag-deploying incidents over 22 million miles compared to 31 for human drivers. Injury accidents are down 73%, and police-reported incidents were reduced by 48%. Waymo's AI-driven vehicles, equipped with advanced sensors and real-time data processing, are rewriting the rules of road safety. This revolutionary performance signals a future where autonomous vehicles could drastically reduce traffic accidents, potentially saving countless lives and reshaping urban transportation as we know it.
Why It Matters / What I Think: Human drivers suck. We are distracted, sleepy and rushed... and it’s only getting worse. The reality is that as we humans become worse drivers, AI robotaxis will constantly improve. The question is, “How long will it be before human-driven vehicles become illegal, or at least outdated?” The benefits of robotaxis go WAY beyond safety and include both saved time and recovery of green spaces. The average U.S. commuter currently spends a mind-numbing 52 minutes each day roundtrip, trapped in the confines of their vehicle—for average employees that's equivalent to recovering 216 hours, or twenty-seven 8-hour days, during your year. With autonomous vehicles, we're looking at a radical reshaping of urban landscapes. Think about it: fewer parking lots, more green spaces, and reimagined city centers. The ripple effects on real estate, urban planning, and even social interactions are mind-boggling.
OpenAI's o1 Measured at 120 IQ – Shatters Record
What It Is: OpenAI's latest breakthrough, its o1 model (codenamed Project Strawberry), employs reinforcement learning and chain-of-thought processing to "think" before responding, mimicking human problem-solving with remarkable accuracy. o1 outperforms expert humans on PhD-level science questions and ranks in the 89th percentile for competitive programming. It solved 83% of International Mathematics Olympiad qualifying exam problems, compared to GPT-4o's mere 13%. The model's most astonishing feat? o1 reportedly scored an IQ of 120 on the Norway Mensa test, potentially marking the first time an AI has surpassed average human intelligence. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, places o1 at Level 2 out of 5 on the path to AGI. He hints that Level 3—fully autonomous AI agents—could arrive "relatively quickly." We're witnessing a pivotal moment in AI development. The future of human-AI collaboration is unfolding before our eyes.
Why It Matters / What I Think: OpenAI's o1 is here, and it's rewriting the rules. This AI isn't just parroting information; it's thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving at a level that outperforms expert humans in PhD-level science questions. We're talking about an AI that can tackle complex problems in science, coding, and math with unprecedented accuracy. Sam Altman says o1 is at Level 2 out of 5 on the path to AGI. That's not just progress; it's a leap forward. We're seeing the dawn of AI systems that can truly augment human intelligence across multiple disciplines. We're looking at AI collaborators that could accelerate scientific discoveries, revolutionize drug development, and push the boundaries of technology in ways we've only dreamed of. The potential for human-AI collaboration is off the charts. But here's the kicker: if o1 is just Level 2, imagine what Levels 3, 4, and 5 will bring. We're on an exponential curve of AI development, and the next few years are going to be mind-blowing. This is the future developing before us, and it's going to reshape every aspect of human existence. The race to AGI is heating up, and o1 is a clear sign that we're accelerating. As we push forward, we need to be thoughtful about the implications. This technology could solve some of humanity's greatest challenges, but it also raises important questions about the future of work, education, and even what it means to be human.
Hollywood 3.0: Lionsgate + Runway, AI Enabled Future
What It Is: Lionsgate (the studio behind The Hunger Games & John Wick) has teamed up with Runway, a cutting-edge AI video generation company, to create a custom AI model trained on Lionsgate's vast film catalog. Lionsgate's Vice Chair Michael Burns sees AI as a "great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing" their current operations. Meanwhile, Runway's CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela envisions AI as part of the "continuous efforts to build transformative mediums for artistic expression." But here's the most interesting part: as Hollywood strikes against ChatGPT, this collaboration could set a precedent for years to come. Are we witnessing the birth of AI-powered cinema?
Why It Matters / What I Think: This partnership is just the beginning. Hollywood is about to get a massive reinvention and disruption, one that goes way beyond what YouTube and the internet did. We’re going to see the re-emergence of long-dead famous actors (Marilyn Monroe, etc.) and new, fully virtualized, photo-realistic, stars and starlets. We’re also going to see new films that are produced on the fly and customized for viewers’ specific desires. Imagine a world where anyone can create Hollywood-quality content with AI trained on iconic films. This collaboration is paving the way for a democratization of storytelling that could redefine entertainment as we know it.
AI-Powered Drug Discovery: Insilico's “Next-Generation Therapeutic” Targets Deadly Cancers
What It Is: Insilico Medicine has unveiled a new small molecule (ISM2196) in the fight against cancer. Designed using the Alchemistry module of Chemistry 42, this molecule demonstrated potent anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical studies across multiple cancer models, including colorectal, endometrial, and gastric cancers. ISM2196 targets WRN (Werner syndrome RecQ helicase-like), a synthetic lethal target for tumors prevalent in over 20 cancer types. Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico's CEO, emphasized that this breakthrough "underscores the possibilities of AI technology to transform drug discovery and deliver next-generation therapeutics to patients with unmet medical needs." This development showcases AI's potential to revolutionize cancer treatment, offering hope for patients resistant to current therapies.
Why It Matters / What I Think: I’ve been a fan of Dr. Zhavoronkov’s work for the last decade, since my venture fund BOLD made an investment. His vision is panning out brilliantly. He has repeatedly demonstrated Insilico’s ability to utilize AI to design molecules that are specific and effective. And this is just the beginning. What has been a 10-year, $3 billion-dollar typical drug-discovery process may soon get cut back by 10x or 100x in the years ahead.
Live Abundantly,
Peter H. Diamandis, MD