GPT-4 is a Reasoning Engine, Tinder’s Importance, and More!

Hello and happy Sunday!

We published 5 articles this week on everything from GPT-4, to Tinder, to interest rates.

And we're also trying something new: culture criticism. Scroll to the end of today's Digest for a review of Succession's season premiere from Evan Armstrong.

Now, on to the articles.

GPT-4 is a Reasoning Engine

GPT-4 is an impressive reasoning engine—but it's still only as good as the information we give it.

In this essay, Dan unpacks the importance of knowledge databases and personal repositories of knowledge in enhancing AI's capabilities, and how they will play a crucial role in the future of AI applications.

Read

Tinder Is Way More Important Than You Think

If you're looking to improve society you could start by building a better dating app.

Why? Evan argues that dating apps play a large role in boosting birth rates which has massive positive effects on the economy. As an added bonus dating apps are relatively easy to get off the ground, as far as massive socioeconomic interventions go. The only barrier to entry is code.

America is screwed unless it learns to screw again. Learn why in Napkin Math.

Read

OpenAI: the Next Tech Giant?

Nathan Baschez / Divinations

OpenAI is making a bold transition from research lab to consumer app—leaving the land of the familiar and entering an ambitious, uncertain new world. With their launch of ChatGPT plugins last week, they may just become the newest tech giant, alongside Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook.

In this week's essay Nathan explores this momentous step forward for AI: Is OpenAI really going to become the next tech giant?

Read

A Short History of Artificial Intelligence

Anna-Sofia takes us through the fascinating history of artificial intelligence, from its advent at Dartmouth in the middle of the last century to the recent advances in machine learning that have led to powerful AI applications like ChatGPT.

This essay explains in detail the architecture behind massive language models—and paints a picture of an exciting if slightly daunting, AI-assisted future.

Read

Why Interest Rates Matter (and Which Rates Matter)

Byrne Hobart

Arnold Schwarzenegger is famous for his movies, but he made most of his money by betting correctly on interest rates.

Interest rates play a crucial role in shaping the economy and the financial decisions we make. They especially impact two types of businesses: heavily leveraged, capital-intensive firms and high-growth, future-focused companies.

Understanding how interest rates affect borrowed money and the present value of future profits can help you make better financial decisions—just like Arnold. Dive into how this works in Byrne Hobart's latest piece.

Read

Succession Episode 1 Review

Hey there! As a fun addition to the Sunday Digest, Evan will be writing a mini-review for the final season of Succession. Each review will discuss the themes, writing, and dynamics of the show. 

We watch Succession because it does two things, simultaneously, to perfection, at a level I don’t think we’ve ever seen before on T.V. First, it does all the typical stuff of a great prestige program (whip-smart writing and a cast so talented it seems unfair to traditional cable). But the second thing, the real magic of this media corporation Shakespearean drama, is that it actually understands what business is. Business and family and perhaps even life are about power. Who has the power in a family? Who has power in business? And why are they, ultimately, the exact same thing? 

The answers to these questions were explored in the season premiere last week. In the climax of the episode, the Roy siblings are battling their Dad for control over a media asset. There is a back-and-forth negotiation on price and then to really show their Dad, the Roy Juniors bump their bid from 8B to 9.5 B. Then, to have a " definitive " number, they casually tack on an additional $500M. They win the deal and their father calls to congratulate them. “Congratulations on saying the biggest number, you f$&*ing morons.”

This really is how deals get done! This isn’t fiction, it is reality. I have seen so many transactions where tens or hundreds of millions of value get added on to satisfy grudges or soothe egos. At a certain level of the game of capitalism, winning is what matters. The game’s outcome is ego, not financial returns. In business (and in families) winning often takes precedence over being right. 

Succession works because it understands that businesses are human drama on a billion-dollar scale. So many TV shows about investing fail because they mischaracterize this dynamic as motivated by greed or hubris. And yes, deals absolutely do get done in this way. But what actually matters is the humans driving the transaction, to begin with. 

Returning to the first thing, I must gush again on the level of craft. For the stalwart fans (which includes me, a devotee so ardent that I wear a Kendall Roy t-shirt for every Sunday evening viewing) the show still has the qualities that have made it one of the best TV shows of all time. The writing is still incredible, the characters still lovably horrible, and every line is eminently quotable. Here is a brief quote charcuterie board of lines that made me cackle:

• “It’s like clickbait but for smart people” Roman describing Every, cough I mean their new media venture, The Hundred.
• “What’s even in there? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail? Greg, it’s monstrous. It’s gargantuan. You could take it camping. You could slide it across the floor after a bank job.” Tom brutally eviscerating Greg’s date’s Burberry bag. Fun note: to get this prop right the Succession writing team interviewed a Rich NY woman to make sure it was a maximum social faux pas. 
• “The Hundred is Substack meets Masterclass meets The Economist meets The New Yorker.” Kendall once again describing Every, I mean, the Roy sibling’s new media co The Hundred. 

This season is especially tantalizing because it is the finale. Finally, after three seasons, and a bajillion awards, we will get to answer the question. Who will win the game of Succession? 

Like this review? Hate it? Want more of them? Let us know if you want more media reviews from the team at Every. We are always experimenting with new formats and feedback makes the product even better :)