A product manager's path from positioning systems to positioning humanity for the AI Age

When I defended my PhD thesis on neural networks back in 2011, AI was a very different field. My research focused on something quite specific: using cascade-connected artificial neural networks to improve mobile phone positioning. It seems almost quaint now, looking back from our current era of transformers and large language models.

My journey since then has been taking me through many winding roads. One of my first major projects was leading a team of signal processing experts and army generals to develop what might have been the world's first Over-the-Horizon-Radar system—technology that could detect ships up to 370km away from the shore, well beyond the curve of the Earth. This experience taught me something crucial: technological breakthroughs can fundamentally change what we believe is possible.

As my career progressed into product management, I had the privilege of developing AI solutions used by Fortune 50 companies, ultimately touching the lives of over a billion people. Each project brought new insights into both the potential and the responsibilities that come with deploying AI at scale.

But something changed around 2019 after the publication "Attention is All You Need." started to get significant traction and validation. As transformers began revolutionizing AI capabilities, I found myself growing increasingly concerned. Not just about the immediate challenges we often discuss—job displacement, algorithmic bias, or the misuse of jailbroken models—but about a more fundamental question:

What happens when humans are no longer the most intelligent entities in the room?

These concerns kept growing as AI capabilities accelerated, eventually leading me to make a significant decision: at the beginning of 2024, I stepped down from my role as CEO of a UK-based fintech company to focus entirely on what I believe is the defining challenge of our time—ensuring AI development enhances rather than diminishes humanity's future.

Since making this transition, I've launched airiskindex.com—a novel approach to tracking AI risk that uses sentiment analysis and investment data to help people understand the dangers of both unaligned AI and overregulated AI development. This work has only strengthened my conviction that we need a balanced, thoughtful approach to AI advancement.

It's a...

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