AI's Measurement Problem: Billions Wasted, Productivity Hidden

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

Books

• "Your margin is my opportunity" by Jeff Bezos - A business philosophy highlighting that inefficiently high-profit margins for one company present an opportunity for competitors to offer lower prices and gain market share.

People Mentioned

• Russ Fraden (First employee at the first online ad network, founder of Larden) - Discussed the parallels between the early days of online advertising and the current state of AI adoption, emphasizing the need for measurement and governance tools.
• Alex Rampell (a16z General Partner) - Engaged in conversation with Russ Fraden about the productivity problem in AI and its enterprise implications.
• Josh McFarland (Google) - Mentioned as the person who introduced Alex Rampell to Russ Fraden.
• Larry Page (Co-founder of Google) - Referenced for his ambition to grow Google to a million employees, highlighting the desire of CEOs to run larger companies.
• Ed Glaeser (Harvard economist) - Discussed the potential impact of AI on jobs, particularly white-collar, highly educated individuals.
• Tyler Cowen - Referenced for his viewpoint that economic growth is paramount.
• Ben Thompson (Founder of Stratechery) - Mentioned as an example of a profitable one-person operation.
• Joe Rogan (Host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast) - Mentioned as an example of a profitable one-man operation.

Organizations & Institutions

• Larden - A company founded by Russ Fraden to provide measurement and governance tools for AI adoption in enterprises, aiming to prove the value of AI tools.
• Comscore - Mentioned as a company that built infrastructure to prove the effectiveness of digital advertising in the early days of the internet. Russ Fraden was an early employee.
• Doubleclick - An early online advertising company that built part of the infrastructure for internet advertising.
• Flycast - An early online ad network where Russ Fraden was the first employee.
• Omniture - A company that built part of the stack for internet advertising, later acquired by Adobe.
• Google - Referenced for its early acquisition of Urchin to build Google Analytics, recognizing the need for measurement tools.
• Facebook - Mentioned as one of the most amazing companies ever built, benefiting from the advertising infrastructure.
• McKinsey - Referenced for its traditional productivity surveys and corporate health index.
• Towers Watson - Referenced for its traditional productivity surveys.
• Accenture - Referenced for its traditional productivity surveys.
• J.P. Morgan Chase - Used as an example of a large company with significant IT and labor budgets, illustrating the scale of AI spending.
• General Mills - Used as an example of a large company where marketers might use AI tools.
• GE (General Electric) - Mentioned as an example of a large, older company where a smaller percentage of workers might aspire to CEO roles compared to Silicon Valley companies.
• Harvard - Mentioned in a humorous anecdote about college rankings.
• Waste Management - The CEO was interviewed about the company's hiring challenges, particularly for truck drivers, contrasting with the abundance of MBA applicants.

Tools & Software

• ChatGPT - An AI tool used by a 28-year-old in investment banking to create a 30-slide deck efficiently, and also by a child for homework.
• Cursor - A tool that helps engineers code, described as making mediocre engineers good and amazing engineers "gods."
• Claude - An AI tool mentioned for use by marketers.
• Workday - An enterprise software that employees are compelled to use for essential functions like payroll.
• Sharepoint - An intranet software mentioned as an example of enterprise software often used by a small subset of the intended population.
• Harvey - A product that seems to make legal professionals more productive.
• Cloud Code - An AI tool for coding, mentioned in the context of engineers' spending habits.
• Gemini - An AI tool mentioned for use by employees.
• Llama - A customized model trained by Larden to block illegal or company-disapproved prompts.
• Sharp Wizard - An early smart computer or "palm pilot" from the 1990s, mentioned in a Seinfeld anecdote as a device with many features that was hard to explain.
• Google Analytics - A web analytics service that Google developed after acquiring Urchin, highlighting the importance of tracking value.

Videos & Documentaries

• "How Software Is Eating Labor" (Video by Alex Rampell) - Discusses the firm's thesis on software's impact on labor, leading to increased productivity rather than job loss.

Articles & Papers

• US News World Reports rankings - Mentioned in an anecdote about college rankings.

Other Resources

• LMS course (Learning Management System course) - Discussed as an ineffective way to drive employee adoption of new technologies, contrasting with mandatory training.
• EU AI regulations - Regulations in Europe that impact how companies can use AI, particularly concerning employee data and reviews.