Miles Taylor The Future of Technology Development Quantum Computing and More - Ep 94

Show video

hello everyone thank you for joining uh this  episode i appreciate you joining and i also   appreciate the individual joining us miles taylor  is more fluent and adept in technology in that   field than anyone i've talked to especially  on this podcast dream big daily he is the   former lead for advanced technology and security  strategy at google and chief of staff at the us   department of homeland security at google  unbelievable work he's doing to get tech   integrated into the federal government itself in  that we're lacking behind or as he says behind the   curve in certain ways beyond our peers or other  nations especially in america but he talks about   quantum computing ai drops quotes drops gems drops  learnings things to the lay person like me that i   would never know if i never had this  conversation so i wanted to bring it to you   and i'm really grateful for miles joining us  to bring such insight and talk about the things   he's trying to push forward please enjoy and  drop a comment if you got something from this   drop a subscription or subscribe and  press that button on apple podcast spotify   or please youtube if you're watching this  on video form thank you miles thank you for   listening if you're listening at all video  or audio i appreciate you seriously enjoy i have a dream it's one small step for man i am  the greatest you want something go get it period   i would love to start at so  i'm in austin texas right now   you're in washington you know the capitol i  would love to um have you explain why you're   currently there because that can be a nice segue  into a lot of what i was gonna ask with google   politics like tech and all this other stuff but  uh what are you currently doing in washington   what brings you there yeah so you know look  i've been living in washington dc for almost   two decades and have really seen a roller  coaster in this town in terms of what the   political environment has been like but also what  the tech scene has been like on the political side   you know americans have lived it i mean  we've gone from a country i think that was   a little bit more unified focused on policy  issues especially unified after the september 11th   attacks which were the reason i first came  to washington dc uh but we've gone through   some hard times i mean we've seen increasing  political polarization which has made this town   a lot more of a difficult place to get things done  but at the same time in parallel we've seen some   fascinating things happening on the technology  side as washington dc itself our nation's capital   is becoming a little bit of a tech hub which  is actually really good when it comes to our   policy and our politics because it means that  lawmakers policymakers people in the white   house have easier access to the folks that are  developing those bleeding edge technologies that   are going to change our society and so there's  really interesting synergy there which i never   expected in this town and look for me personally  and selfishly it's a great opportunity to scratch   the itch when it comes to both of my you know true  loves which are you know public policy and uh and   technology policy more specifically so it's an  interesting time to be in our nation's capital   uh things have settled down a bit since the  craziness at the start of the year and hopefully   we're in an environment where we can sort of make  politics foreign again and uh and not have it be   something that's so disruptive to people's lives  but rather as a feature when it comes to their   lives and the last thing that i would add to  that is you know you know our politicians today   can learn a lot from what we've seen happen in  recent years of tech growth namely we've seen   the tech sector democratize almost everything in  our society technology has democratized rideshare   it's democratized ordering food on you know  any platform getting clothes wherever you want   it's really given americans unlimited choice  and competition and ironically the one place   that we really lack choice and competition is in  our own democracy is we've got a system that's   really really focused on the two parties which  have sort of a stranglehold over the political   process across the country so as politicians and  party leaders start to realize that technology   can't just democratize things in the marketplace  it can democratize our political process more   effectively i think that's good for americans  all around so that's something that's exciting   and uh that i'm trying to work on here in  dc is promoting civic tech that can really   give people more choice and competition in  in their country in the democratic process   wow yeah i think about um a friend was talking  to me the other day and just saying how   like politics seems so behind like you always hear  that politics seems so behind in terms of like   how they do hearings and everything and just like  some people's um especially in the senate their   understanding of tech itself like when they had  the the big four come in like the tech companies   and like a lot of the people and hearing didn't  even know what zuckerberg or any of them were   saying so it's nice to have like a young gun like  yourself go in and get people kind of up to speed   because you think about in the way you said it too  politics it's kind of like the parent that is like   looking at their child too much instead of like  letting them run free and play which is kind of   like the founding fathers set up the government  to be more of like you said a feature rather   than just like running literally like every  little nuance of everything right it's like   individual states doing their thing um so i'd  love to know what you learned because you were   doing the department of homeland security  at google you're the chief of staff   and what you learned from that to then bring  over to the government itself and like the   exact stuff you learn with quantum computing and  like all the yeah yeah deep tech stuff and that   well yeah and it was sort of in reverse order  and so i'll start the answer that way um you   know i i spent years in working in national  security in the government and largely that   was because of the 9 11 terrorist attacks  i mean after the attacks uh and i'd been in   the world trade center one week before the towers  were hit that had a big impact on me and it made   me want to go into the realm of national security  and and to work in defense and intelligence and   and try to better protect the country to prevent  a day like that from ever happening again but also   to better anticipate emerging threats to our  country so at the end of my most recent portion   of my government career i was i was the chief  of staff at the department of homeland security   which is the government's third largest department  it's 250 000 people and a 60 billion dollar budget   all focused on how do we better protect this  country and of all the things that i learned   in my time there about the threats to the united  states the most important was that we're behind   the curve when it comes to anticipating technology  developments that could affect our nation's future   and its security and chief among those  developments at the end of my tenure was   in artificial intelligence quantum computing and  autonomous vehicles and i think what we're seeing   in terms of development in that space will have  extraordinary unpredictable ramifications for   our security for years and years to come in fact  some of those technologies like quantum computing   are somewhat unknowable in terms of  the impact that they will have we   are talking about computing power that  is so enormous by orders of magnitude   above the even the fastest super computers we  have today that it's difficult to predict what   problems those machines will be able to solve  but at the same time what potential public   safety and national security threats will arise  out of individuals having access to that level   of computing power so when i left government  that was a key concern to me i wanted to focus on   those technology security challenges that we're  going to confront in the next 10 20 30 years so   after that i left i went to google i became their  head of advanced technology and security strategy   which really meant looking at the at the bleeding  edge technology developments happening inside the   company and better understanding the public policy  impact how those tools would reshape the world   that we live in and what changes if any need  to be made to legislation or government policy   to make sure that we usher in those new tools  and technologies and systems in a way that's   safe and effective and beneficial to the american  economy and also reduces uh public safety threats   and national security risks and one great example  would be when it comes to artificial intelligence   we spent a lot of time when i was at google  talking about ai principles and what principles   we would need to put in place to make sure that  we deployed that technology in a way that was safe   and secure and beneficial to the consumer because  we all know there's a lot of movies out there   whether it's terminator or the movie named ai that  was directed by steven spielberg that talks about   some of the scary things that can happen when  you give machines the autonomy to think on their   own to act on the route and so at google we put  in place a policy framework to make sure that   anything we did in artificial intelligence was  done in such a way that it took consideration   of the larger public policy and societal impacts  and we spent a lot of time talking to government   about that and trying to make sure that the  us government was doing the same thing as it   developed these technologies so so my experience  in the national security realm really influenced   my thinking about technology policy and how we  you know stay in the lead when it comes to these   various emerging tech categories around the  world and staying in the lead means both   you know making sure that you get the best  economic impact from these technologies because   you're ahead of everyone else but also that you  can anticipate the challenges and the downsides   sooner and and to guard against them so that's  why i think that's really important and it's why   i've been spending a lot of time really trying to  develop a a richer technology conversation here   in our nation's capital yeah as is needed and i  would love to as you said we're behind the curve   have you explained why we were  behind the curve in the first place   because like people say like yeah we are  but like nobody know the details as to why   yeah i mean look here's the reality right now the  united states is competing in an international   assistant in an international system where  our rival countries are investing heavily   in emerging technologies in a way that the united  states simply is not at least from the government   side so we'll take china for instance the  chinese have set targets to spend billions upon   billions of dollars investing in new technologies  like quantum computing whereas the united states   i think has only pledged one billion dollars over  five years towards that technology there's a huge   discrepancy there now in some of those spaces  we're currently ahead right america has the lead   but with that level of investment from foreign  governments they could be set to overtake us   in this decade when it comes to those really  crucial emerging technologies now there's some   places that we're already far behind i mean i  would say when it comes to 5g and the deployment   of 5g when it comes to some elements of artificial  intelligence there's rival countries that have   already exceeded the united states and we've got  to play ketchup and at the moment there's a lot   of really interesting legislation and ideas  moving through washington dc to try to make   sure that we stay competitive and that we either  catch up in the races where we've fallen behind   or we stay in the lead in those few places where  we currently have a lead and one of those places   i think is quantum computing i think we do have a  slight edge right now and it's one of those things   where that edge can be preserved if we develop  deeper public-private partnerships in other words   making sure that the government is working really  closely with startups and industry to galvanize   this ecosystem and make sure that we've got the  most sophisticated quantum computers in the world   yeah i'm so glad you ended on that  too because i was just thinking about   everyone i've interviewed almost everyone  is like a self-starter an entrepreneur and   something to the likes of that and like i've  interviewed more than you know we're almost   at 100 episodes off the record i've interviewed  hundreds and like all of them are building such   amazing things or doing incredible things and it's  beautiful in that sense but it's also to say like   all of the public companies we have are all made  from like these unbelievable entrepreneurs and   like the small businesses that became big  businesses they all fuel what america is   which is so beautiful um i watched one video of  i believe it was trump and then every single uh   ceo of every single major tech company and  yeah sure yeah and they were just talking about   like how to they're just talking and like how  to make things better and how to integrate tech   um and i think like it's those discussions that  matter and just like your continued work to   get tech into the most important thing to lay  the foundation of what america needs itself   but uh one quote i wanted to bring up you  were in an interview with yahoo finance   and you talked about quantum computing and  just for contextualization of how crazy it is   you said uh every picture you see online  and every text message you read is just a   long string of those two numbers quantum  computers are different they harness the   power of nature to create more possibilities  and i was just like that's that's insane um   can you explain more of quantum computing itself  since you said yeah mean things like that and ai   yeah i mean look most people when they're at the  dinner table at home with their families are not   going to engage in a conversation about quantum  physics and and if you can't explain to the layman   what quantum physics really is it's very tough to  understand the implications of the technology but   the best way to boil it down is if you think  of classical computers that we have today   your iphone your desktop your ipad everything that  happens on those machines is operated in terms of   perceiving information in terms of zeros and ones  every single thing is boiled down to zeros and   ones so when you type your name into your computer  it's encoding it as a series of zeros and ones   the long string of those two numbers what's  different about quantum computing is that it   harnesses the power of quantum physics all the way  down to the atomic level and it's something called   qubits so just like a computer a bit is a  you know a series of those uh ones and zeros   a qubit is very different because  in nature a an atom can be both one   or zero or one and zero at the same time and  here's the way to think of it if you think of   a coin a classical computer you flip the coin it's  either heads or tails it's one or zero that's it   but when it comes to quantum mechanics you can  spin that penny and it has got a one side and a   zero side but there's also uncertainty it could  land as one one or zero so you can measure it in   multiple different ways what does that mean it  means you're able to do computer processes that   are exponentially more complicated because you  can introduce uncertainty into your calculations   now what does that mean in the real world it  means for instance that a quantum computer   can solve a problem incredibly faster than even  the best supercomputer in the world so i'll give   you one example one u.s company two years ago  demonstrated what's called quantum supremacy   and they showed that there was a math problem that  would have taken the world's fastest supercomputer   10 000 years to solve but their quantum computers  solved the problem in about 90 seconds so that   shows you just how extraordinary uh this computing  power is in these quantum machines now i want to   be realistic about this we're about a decade away  from quantum computers that are actually practical   to deploy to solve really tough challenges right  now they're in their earliest stages but when you   think about the fact that a quantum computer  thinks the same way that nature thinks   rather than this artificial way of ones and  zeros which we've created i mean if you take   a microscope and you put a leaf under it and you  zoom in and you zoom in and you zoom in at the end   of the day you don't see ones and zeros you see  atoms you see the atomic structure of that leaf   and because a quantum computer can mimic that and  use those same processes its ability to do things   is infinitely greater than your standard computers  and that opens up a whole new world of possibility   the most important one being in artificial  intelligence because a quantum computer can   supercharge ai so that machines will be able to  think more authentically like human beings do and   they'll also as we project potentially in the  2030s be potentially able to even develop the   analog of human emotions in other words a machine  that is authentically happy or sad or in a worse   case angry those types of things are possible in  the fear in the future the not too distant future   with quantum computers and it's something that  we've got to prepare for now from a public policy   perspective and it's one thing that i worry is not  happening in washington dc is policy makers are   not talking about the era that's not very far away  of when machines might be able to have feelings   what are we going to do around that how are we  going to regulate that how do we want to think   about that how do we want to protect people from  that but how do we also want to leverage that   technology to do extraordinary things because  it's not all about the movie terminator right   if you've got a machine that can think and feel  that doesn't mean the machine is going to destroy   humanity it actually means that like us as human  beings the machine will have a much more efficient   way to process its environment our emotions are  an evolutionary benefit to what we do every day   you know when you touch a hot stove and it burns  your hand and it hurts and it makes you angry   that sends a really efficient signal to your  brain to not ever touch that hot stove again   so rather than having to program that  into a computer in a complicated way   you could hypothetically with quantum supercharged  ai teach that computer to have the same reaction   to touching a hot stove as a human being  does that mean it can learn more more quickly   more efficiently and more organically to perform  its functions better but that's a whole new world   of public policy that we've got to get into that  quantum computers will usher in a new era of   is that what you said with holding it  back so you don't deploy it into the   ecosystem is that what you said earlier  on with like it's just simply not ready   yet like there's still many things yeah let me  test that in in a nutshell um quantum computers   right now have a lot of what's called error so  it's really really difficult to try to harness   the atoms the way that you need to in a  quantum environment in fact a lot of cases   it requires uh an environment that is so  well controlled that you're able to measure   these things that are happening at a really small  scale so to create that controlled environment   you need total precision and at the place that  we are in terms of technology development there   is a lot of error in that process in other words  when you tell the quantum computer to do something   you can't totally rely on the result that gets  spit out because you're not completely certain   that it was performed to perfection it's the same  thing that happened with super computers and just   regular computers in the 1950s and the 1960s they  were called there was fault there was error built   into those machines we it wasn't until the 1970s  that we reached what's called fault-tolerant   computing and it meant that we had computers  that if they spit out an answer to one plus one   equals two we could be confident that the machine  did it correctly that's the same place that we're   in right now with quantum computers is that era  where we're trying to make sure that what the   computer tells us at the end of the day is true  and that the error has been corrected for so that   error corrected quantum machine is about 10 years  away but that doesn't mean we can't do anything   within the interim because in the 1950s and 60s we  still did things with computers recognizing that   there would be some error so we're in this really  exciting moment where we have quantum machines   that kind of work that can solve hybrid problems  uh in the real world today for instance you know   there are competitions around the world right now  to try to find companies whose quantum computers   will help more efficiently deploy drones uh  and drone delivery vehicles around cities so   we're only a few years off from a lot of  major u.s cities having amazon drones that   come deliver packages at your doorstep well  when you've got one or two drones that have   to fly a flight pattern over a city that's an  easy calculation but when you have 500 of them   you need really really impressive computing  power to make sure those drones deconflict   the path they're on find the most efficient routes  and get to where they're going safely and that's   where things like quantum computers can step in  and help a traditional computer optimize those   interactions in the air so we're going to see  some of that happening in this decade before   we get to the terminator stuff in in the 2030s  yeah i i think of one thing with like usps or   ups fedex like some of the most insane logistical  companies which need to compute a lot of data   to figure out like where everyone's  going how to get everything everywhere   i went to mail a letter the other day and i had  one little item in it and it was just a envelope   for just the letter so i put it in the box and  in my you know where the postman picks it up   and he takes it and then a couple days later  i find in my mailbox back again the letter   but the thing the item's not there anymore there's  a hole in it and there's a stamp that says parcel   rate required yeah i say all that because like it  wasn't the exact weight or like i guess dimension   it should have been so they sent it back and said  it's not good so with you know a company like that   with like obviously humans who do the check off on  their on their screens with their tablets and such   to say like oh this literally can't be used  because it's too big even a 0.1 of an ounce more   it could screw up the plane when it's taking it  to the east coast where my letter was going from   uh central america and austin so like  i think about with computers doing that   how much more efficient things  can be but also like how exact   things have to be like to the point zero zero  zero like you said the ones and the zeros   it's insane but yeah if you want to say something  yeah no i was just gonna say i mean look there's   a whole array of different fields that we  expect quantum computing to completely disrupt   and you know in addition to making artificial  intelligence smarter robotics smarter there's a   lot of practical areas where we're going  to be able to deploy quantum computers   to solve big societal challenges and i'll give  you one that you know sounds kind of boring   but people will care about and that is when it  comes to batteries it's really really difficult   from a chemical and physics perspective to  develop efficient batteries that can hold a lot   of charge and can go long range and where that's  going to matter is in our vehicles so right now   look i drive a tesla and my tesla gets probably  250 miles an hour range well that company   is really focused on making sure that their  vehicles go more than 250 miles before a charge   they want to go 300 400 500 1000 miles on a single  charge but it really comes down to the weight   of a lithium-ion battery and how it's constructed  it turns out that's an extremely com you know   difficult computational question the great thing  about quantum computers because they can think   in the same way nature thinks is you can use  them to try to make those batteries and fuel   cells vastly more efficient to get that longer  range in a way that today's classical computers   simply cannot do so quantum is going to unlock  these kind of everyday developments that really   help you so i don't have to charge my car  once every two hours when i'm on a road trip   it's maybe once every three four five six  hours those are the types of things that   will happen in the background that americans  don't see but also more significant things   quantum computers will hopefully allow us to  model a lot of things that we're seeing when   it comes to weather and climate change when you  talk about the interactions in the atmosphere   between different types of forces and on  the ground it gets exceedingly complicated   exceedingly fast and you need something like an  advanced quantum machine to better understand   the mechanics behind climate change and also some  of the key drivers so we think that's going to be   another area where this is important and then also  in healthcare when we're studying really dangerous   viral pathogens like covet 19 and others that  can spread throughout the world quantum machines   can dissect those pathogens a lot more quickly  and potentially could help us reach you know   cures and and treatments a lot more faster than we  can today when it comes to dangerous diseases so   there's a lot of exciting things that can happen  as this technology gets rolled out and again   it will supercharge artificial intelligence in in  ways that right now we can't even fully anticipate   yeah i was going to ask on what fields  will be hurt helped or more so both helped   but uh that definitely touches on it and i'm  a big fan of teslas too national security is   another area where you know i think that we're  gonna have to look at what quantum computing   is doing and the impact that it has and i say  it because of this whichever nation has the   most powerful quantum computer in some ways  has a decisive edge over their adversaries   and i'll give you a specific example if i  launch a uh let's say a weaponized drone   swarm so a whole bunch of mini drones that have  you know ordinance on them that can blow up   let's say i throw a 100 of them in the air on the  battlefield against an adversary and i say to the   drones attack the adversary and their goal  is to swarm in and let's say destroy a tank   well if that adversary has a smarter quantum  computer and a drone defense system that smarter   quantum computer is going to be able to out think  my drone swarm and destroy it before it gets in   and the the really really shocking  thing about quantum machines is   for every qubit you add just like a bit on a  computer every qubit you add to a quantum computer   it becomes smarter by a double exponential what  do i mean by that i mean to the second power so   it becomes incredibly smarter than the next one  just by adding one additional qubit so you could   see us in the not too distant future in a a cubit  bicubit race with other countries to see who's got   the most uh extreme processing power and that  processing power translates into real impact   on the battlefield so there's genuine national  security implications from this technology   beyond just the ability of quantum  computers to break encryption   the encryption that protects our emails  our health records our financial records   that's something that will happen but also  the beauty of quantum computers is that they   can help create unbreakable encryption at the  same time so it's sort of a double-edged sword   yeah you hear about breachings all the time  especially like the food sector had some   uh research but i would love to know whether it  be in the public sector when you were at like   the likes of google or if you were in the private  and you were like working with federal stuff even   and with the government like you're you're  duplicating nature and when you play around with   um nature itself and try to speed up the  process of like maybe evolution in certain ways   um or what has taken so many so many years  like how how can that have a downside because   i know people always think about the downsides to  change it's like an innate human fault in a way   but also can help us from um not getting hurt but  depends on how we use it using our self-awareness   but like have you thought about that when in  public or private sectors with like dealing   with these tough questions like we are literally  duplicating nature we don't want to hurt anything   we want to help everything but we got to be super  cognizant of like how we do it like our approach   yeah when when we start to enter the  quantum age as as a nation as a civilization   as a society we would be really wise to heed some  of the philosophers and scientists that have come   many years before us one of them in particular  francis bacon who was uh you know a philosopher   and a scientific prodigy who said that  nature to be commanded must be obeyed   in other words if you want to have control over  nature you've got to obey the laws of nature   i think that's really relevant when it comes to  technologies like quantum computing things we're   seeing in biotechnology if we disregard science  and the natural processes themselves we will   experience unintended secondary and tertiary  consequences it is important to understand   how nature operates in order to manipulate it in  positive ways in ways that are beneficial towards   us and that requires really a an understanding  of a vast array of disciplines so you know   for instance if you want to use quantum computing  power to manipulate the way that uh you know   traffic moves and traffic patterns evolve then  you better understand some key principles of   evolution and and also potentially you know the  downside and detrimental effects of empowering   uh a machine that's only designed to accomplish  one objective and and the ripple effect that that   relentless attempt to accomplish that objective  might create and the downstream effects that we   can't see um you know all throughout the history  of technology and in a range of fields one of the   biggest failures of leaders in those fields has  been the failure to see the secondary consequences   of their actions and that's really you know the  unintended consequences are the bane of of you   know most uh of most geniuses who create some of  the extraordinary things that have benefited our   society so it's another thing we're gonna have  to think about when it comes to technology in   the quantum computing space but it's wise for us  to go back to that lesson from francis bacon that   nature to be commanded must be obeyed we've got  to obey the laws of nature respect them respect   the science and make sure that we do these things  thoughtfully before we deploy those technologies   into the world yeah that's really well said that  really made me think i'm like i'm kind of stunned   on that anyway but i really want to reflect  on that exact quote from francis bacon because   to command you have to first obey i really do love  that yeah yeah well he was a pretty incisive dude   yeah he was i uh i was gonna ask you though we've  talked a lot about the macro with like you know   what's going on at large and like the the bigger  picture with quantum computing and ai it's like a   huge focus in your life it's important now um  as tech gets integrated into the government   because the government does influence a lot how  did you get into all this and like for someone   who's trying to get into a field such as this and  it's going to keep expanding like how do you learn   such a thing like you you know so much about  physics it seems like did you always have that   or or what was your entry point in a way yeah i  mean for me really getting involved in technology   policy uh started off with just a personal passion  uh you know i was i was i was a tech geek as a kid   i always wanted the you know the calculator  watch or or the coolest you know gadget you   could get as cameras became miniaturized i wanted  those things but um but really as i started to   work in in politics in washington dc in public  policy i recognized that technology had an   outsized impact on a lot of the public policy  dilemmas we face today so my very first job was   uh in washington was working in the house of  representatives in in the office of the speaker   of the house at the time and that was around the  period uh just after 9 11 where we were in war   and afghanistan and donand to war in iraq and  there were a lot of debates on the floor of the   house of representatives about the technology  that we were deploying overseas to protect our   troops and namely how it was inadequate and how  the tools we had developed to fight the last war   were insufficient to fight in urban warfare and  men and women who were defending this country   were dying because of that that was a really  powerful moment for me to be on the floor of   the house of representatives to see members  of congress get emotional talking about their   constituents back home who'd been killed  in battle because we'd sent them off to war   with the wrong tools to protect themselves these  debates are not inconsequential and to me that   really said uh that's not a powerful signal and  that was to to do the right thing in this realm   this realm being politics and public policy you  really need to be a student of other disciplines   because if you're going to pass a law or a  regulation or issue a policy prescription in   some space you darn well better understand that  space and so i spent a lot of time trying to dive   into and better understand technology policy and  especially the emerging tech that could affect our   country's safety and security uh in the future and  and that became really relevant when i was working   at the department of homeland security because  some of the biggest dangers we saw in the united   states were in those bleeding tech categories  were from things like sophisticated cyber attacks   and cryptocurrencies that transnational criminal  organizations were using to put hits on people's   heads or move drugs across borders or things  like drones which were being weaponized to   conduct attacks and potentially assassinate  individuals i mean i was watching in real time   some of these new toys and tools around  the world being used for nefarious purposes   and it said to me i needed to better understand  the technology development side in order for   us to be able to develop the right defenses  against it yeah at the base of everything it is   it is physics and chemistry and obviously all that  stuff and now like that text getting into it it's   such it's so amazing to see i was listening to  i was listening to don norman he's i believe   that's his full name don norman he was the guy  who originated the term ux design sure yeah and   he talked in this one video about how  designers should not be just learning how to   just design as though people connotated with  art and drawing and all that they should learn   systems thinking second order principles  second order you know third order thinking   like thinking ahead like operational type  stuff and then he was like he got into physics   and even elon musk elon musk was like anyone who  wants to do what i'm doing should study physics   like i'm all about seeing themes and  like having these amazing people both   talk about how important physics are and then you  emphasizing like that's the basis of everything   um yeah search the point you gotta learn that  stuff yeah you know i i'd say this the realization   i came to that our next generation of leaders  in this country need to understand both civics   and public policy but also technology policy  led me to launch a charter school here in   washington d.c so a few years ago i developed  a four-year high school here in washington   that's 400-plus students that's focused on both  public policy education and technology education   because our leaders in the future are going to  need to understand the tech that is driving the   world uh as they're trying to lead the country and  and develop solutions for the american people so i   thought it was really important that we have sort  of a public service academy here in washington dc   in our nation's capital that does exactly that  and the school is called the washington leadership   academy it's a great high school the students  are outstanding but they really graduate not   just learning how to uh how a bill becomes law but  learning how to code learning how to fly a drone   learning the the technologies that are going  to be on the forefront of their agendas when   they're in future positions of power so that's  really important to me and that civic education   and technology education in my mind are  intrinsically intertwined congrats on on all that   when was it officially launched the school let's  see our first year uh fully in operation was 2016.   so we just had our first four-year class uh our  first seniors graduate and go to college last year   wow how did that how did that feel to have you  know the school you built have people go through   it officially i mean it was great i mean it was  extraordinary yeah i mean it it felt really good   you know i was sad because the past few years  because of my service in government i had to   step away from the school but it's been uh you  know it's been just hugely exciting to watch   those students thrive and go out into the world  and to prove that that concept was a worthy one   of a student's time and and of their high  school experience yeah absolutely i uh   education's everything i've been having  conversations the past couple episodes and   discussions i've had education is just it's like  you know a hammer and a nail just every time i   hear about it and someone who's adept in the field  just hammer keeps hitting the nail i go deeper and   deeper into the wood and i just understand things  more and more it essentially all starts with that   because if we want to learn more we gotta learn  more about quantum computing and ai like we have   to educate the people to do such a thing like you  said with coding but talking about old keyboards   if people are watching on video i wanted to take  a uh redirection and talk about what's happening   because i see you have a really cool setup  is that an old typewriter it is it is it's an   old remington uh model five typewriter and uh  i'm not gonna lie it's it's it's not terribly   efficient for cranking out information but boy  does it produce some some beautiful letters   and uh you know when you want to take a spin on it  and write out some pros it's a kind of a relaxing   cathartic tool to use as you're writing so  yeah good good eye there that you spotted   the remington down there in the corner yeah  well i i mean i it's a coincidence too because   like to think about that and then like where  we are now i mean for sure yeah you have it   there for as you said the reasons i just you just  gave but it must be cool if you think about like   what you're working on now and then like how  that was built what just like a century ago   you know yeah exactly i mean we've come leaps and  bounds and this is what i think will blow people's   minds about where we're going in technology  development what we've seen happen in the past   50 years in computing power will be eclipsed  in just a few years in the quantum computing   domain i mean really our growth here is is  truly exponential and it's going to open all   sorts of extraordinary doors in uh not just in  technology but but socially and i think that's   what we've got to be excited about yeah there's  some scary things from you know some of these   technological developments but the future is a  bright one the future is one that's going to be   driven by people who understand how to harness  those technologies do so in a responsible way   and uh and make sure that there's inclusiveness  in terms of access to that technology around   the world so yeah it's an exciting time and i  apologize my friend i have to jump about uh in   about a minute to prepare for my uh 7 p.m but  um but uh what note should we close on is there  

a final question that we should dive into yes  i was gonna ask well i have you uh something   just to give you the stage i like  doing that for all my guests and all my   yeah you can hear my friends just anything top of  mind anything you really want to list off anything   you want to speak on for others um yeah yeah you  can be well this is the last thing that i'd say is   we have in this country in the  past few years been deeply divided   in a lot of cases by technology itself so  i think most americans would agree that   tools like social media while they've been  beneficial while they've in some cases increased   productivity and information sharing have also  increased divisiveness in our country and the   reasons are obvious because when you build a  digital brick wall and you throw a grenade over it   you don't see the other person on the other  side that's hit by that grenade it's impersonal   and the impersonal nature of our technology  today has actually caused damage in our   politics it's made people much more inclined to  separate from each other to attack each other   and say things online that they would never say  in the streets but i also think that the same   problems that have been created in our politics  and the same divisiveness that have been created   by certain technologies in the social media realm  will also be fixed by advances in technology and   here's why if the impersonal nature of today's  tech and social media has caused us to separate   from each other the increasing personal  and intimate nature of the technology of   the future will bring us together what do i mean  by that i want you to think of technologies like   virtual reality and augmented reality if instead  of tweeting at you i hate you you're a piece of   garbage i get on twitter and your face pops  up your likeness you in real time as a human   i'm gonna be less inclined to say that  nasty thing maybe i'll disagree with you   but likely i'm gonna disagree with you in a  more civil way so i'm an optimist i actually   you know my friends call me mr brightside and  and i see a future that's not too far away   where technology will become more personal again  and more intimate again and i think we'll have a   pacifying effect on our politics will  help take out the discord in our discourse   and we'll hopefully genuinely bring people back  together so uh i hope that's what happens i hope   that's what we see and and that's kind of the  future that i'm trying to work towards every day   i like that mr brightside i love  that nickname i appreciate it   uh everything you said wise words but uh  until we talk again all right thanks anthony   you're the man i appreciate it i look forward  to chatting with you brother likewise thank you

2021-07-13

Show video