The Exponential Why | Daniel Jung | TEDxRWTHAachen

04 Oct 2024 (17 days ago)

The Exponential Function and Technological Advancement

The greatest shortcoming of the human race is the inability to understand the exponential function, which has become increasingly important in today's world (23s).
The rapid development of technology, including computers, the internet, smartphones, social media, and artificial intelligence, has led to an exponential growth in various fields (1m25s).
A quote from Albert Einstein states that "imagination is more important than knowledge," but a more relevant quote for today's world is "compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world" (1m32s).
Daniel Jung's YouTube channel has helped many people, including children, learn math and has been more effective than traditional methods, with one mother stating that her kids finally laugh at math (2m9s).
Dr. Ian Stewart, a mathematician, was a popular figure in the 1970s and 1980s, but is now largely unknown to children today (2m21s).

Dr. Gilbert Strang, a professor from MIT, was one of the first to record his lessons and make them available online through MIT OpenCourseWare and YouTube (2m53s).
Daniel Jung's approach to teaching math is to create short, 5-10 minute videos that are sorted into playlists with categories, making it easy for people to learn specific topics (3m54s).
In 2011, Daniel Jung started his own platform, but it was unsuccessful, and he eventually switched to using YouTube, which was free and more effective (4m50s).

The story of the inventor of the chessboard, who requested a piece of rice for each square, doubling the amount for each subsequent square, illustrates the concept of exponential growth (5m7s).
The formula for exponential growth is 3C to the X, which represents content creation and combinatorial growth (6m1s).
There are many content creators who provide high-quality educational content online, such as Simple Club, Lara Schmidt, and 3Blue1Brown, who have gained large followings despite not using flashy production styles, but instead focusing on providing valuable information (6m8s).
These content creators have made it possible for people to learn anything they want at any time, with high-quality content and lifelong learning opportunities, which has created an exponential learning effect (7m30s).

However, the problem now is that there is too much content available, making it difficult for people to find the right information, especially with the emergence of AI and the rapid creation of new content (8m6s).
To address this issue, a platform called Matag was launched, which allows users to ask questions and receive answers from humans, and has been developed in collaboration with a university and a German artificial intelligence company (8m34s).
The platform uses semantic AI to find the right sequences of information based on the words used, and has been tested in groups with positive results, showing that AI can be used to help people find the right information (9m20s).
The goal is to use AI to push knowledge and make it more accessible, rather than artificially creating knowledge, and this technology is expected to play a major role in the next few years (11m0s).

The founder of Khan Academy, San, has also been working on making high-quality educational content available to everyone, with the platform now having 155 million users every month (11m19s).
Salman Khan started his YouTube channel in 2006, initially uploading math tutorials for his cousin, which eventually gained millions of followers, leading him to quit his job and focus on Khan Academy full-time (11m34s).
Khan Academy began cooperating with Open AI three years ago and developed an artificial intelligence called Khanmigo, which provides step-by-step hints to help users arrive at the answer (12m16s).
The two Sigma problem refers to the challenge of improving test scores through personalized learning, with classical tutoring typically achieving a one standard deviation improvement, while mastery learning and personal tutors can achieve a two standard deviation improvement (12m52s).
However, providing personal tutors for everyone is not currently possible, which is why combining knowledge with AI and online platforms like Khan Academy, Udemy, and Coursera is crucial (13m51s).

The concept of exponential growth is illustrated by the film "Pay It Forward," where one person does good for three others, who in turn do good for three more, creating a ripple effect (14m30s).
Social media can be used to provide real knowledge and train AI, and individuals are encouraged to share their knowledge online to create more valuable content (15m5s).
The AI dilemma, discussed in a talk by Tristan Harris, refers to the potential risks and consequences of AI, and creating more valuable content online can help mitigate this dilemma (15m57s).

To be human means going forward in life, and that's only possible by taking action and creating content that can inspire and educate others, rather than just consuming social media (17m34s).
Creating high-quality, frequent content on platforms such as YouTube or podcasts can help train AI and provide a positive influence on its development (18m0s).
Starting a channel or podcast to share knowledge, projects, and ideas can contribute to the training of AI and potentially shape its future (18m19s).
Using social media for good can give training machines a hint to have more power and potentially lead to positive outcomes (18m54s).
The current age is unique in terms of technological advancements, and it's essential to take advantage of this time to learn and implement new ideas (19m18s).
Companies like Nvidia, formerly a graphic card company, are now playing a significant role in the development of AI, as their computers are used by big platforms (19m41s).
Spreading the word and sharing knowledge through various media can inspire others and potentially shape the future of AI (20m5s).
Taking action and creating content can have a ripple effect, influencing others and contributing to a positive impact on the development of AI (20m15s).