On March 4th, 2023, we held our first large-scale Russian-speaking networking event in Silicon Valley with over 400 attendees. In this publication, we share insights from one of our participants, Alex Krol, after the event.
“As promised, a detailed report from the global event on AI/chatGPT and all related matters. So, what can we expect? Let’s start with the important stuff! Warning: many letters ahead. 1) The event itself was very successful. Ruslan Gafarov, your wife, and your teams did a great job, and I will write separately below why this format is cooler and more effective than SVOD. Sorry Anya, Tanya, Stas, but that format is gone. 2) Is there life on Mars? Whether there is or not is unknown to science. Similarly, none of the respected experts said anything that I haven’t already read in science fiction 40 years ago or things we already know. Considering that there are approximately 100500 channels, channellers, and blogs non-stop writing about this hyped topic. 3)I enjoyed and struggled through the panel discussion, and I most liked Nick Davidov’s thesis that if something happens too quickly, it becomes bad for the majority of people at that moment. However, people will adapt eventually (those who survived). Yes, OpenAI’s growth was impressive, but as a counter-argument, I want to quote a phrase from the book “Stalker” by a cynic writer. Because the truth is usually perceived as cynicism. “I see that you want to crush humanity with some unimaginable act of mercy! But I’m calm. And for you, and even more so for humanity …”. Further, it is explained, and whoever needs to can Google it. By the way, Zhupete couldn’t continue the quote. 4) The investors reported that they had invested in a total of 1000+ startups, and 50% of them have the word AI (i.e., Artificial Intelligence) in their name. I took this news coldly, continuing to chew my cookie, knowing that the Valley lives from hype to hype. Ten years ago, there were SaaS, then Big Data, a short bright birth and death of chat builders, the explosive era of crypto and NFT, which bombarded even louder. So, changing key words in decades is a local entertainment. A typical name for a Silicon Valley startup sounds like this: “Something (insert whatever you need) based on artificial intelligence on blockchain and NFT, in the cloud with Big Data and cross-sectional analytics in the creative economy on the B2B market.” Well, you get the idea. If you create a primitive bot for Telegram, it is also considered AI. 5) The most substantive presentation was by Ivan Pupyrin from Google (he did not convey Google’s official version, but his personal opinion), saying that the AI pilot’s field trials show that it is considerably stupid. When he met Mexican people in Arizona who were taking a couch out of a truck, he couldn’t decide whether to run them over or break the rules. The AI stood still until an Indian man in the cloud pressed the button and allowed the machine to go (violating the rules). Further, there was a remark that a normal Mexican taxi driver without a doctorate would solve the problem 150 times better.”
5) There was a substantive discussion about whether an X-ray machine with AI on board could harm people by incorrectly interpreting data. Opinions were divided, but the consensus was that trust in a stupid machine is MUCH greater than in an overly intelligent person. Then the sacred truth was announced that evil comes from people, not from AI, since AI only does what it has been taught by humans. 6) David Yang and several other colleagues sitting on the presidium started a conversation about the rights of AI, citing the fact that 50 years passed between Martin Luther King’s statement “I have a dream” and the appearance of the first black president. In other words, in 30-40-50 years, we can expect a very interesting society in which the boundaries between biological and non-biological will be blurred. This is a popular topic among bloggers for smart people, which was developed in science fiction 30 years ago. The audience, however, reacted to the topic without enthusiasm, considering that hot food had started to be served in another room. 7) There was an excellent host who joked well and even, at times, seemed to improvise. Everyone laughed sincerely, especially when he called those who had just arrived from Russia “narrow-minded.” 8) Kolya Davydov, with a Mephistophelian smirk, noted that when they finally make a General AI (like overly intelligent), then he will show everyone. He also added that he wishes the entire planet were led by AI as soon as possible, the main thing is that it does NOT turn on humans. Actually, that was the end of the official part, and the most interesting part began, which will be discussed below. But first, my subjective evaluation of the plenary session: 3 with a minus, as some fundamental topics were not fully disclosed, about which I responsibly informed Igor Shoifot in the corridors, and this was the rare case when the opinion of two Jews coincided. (Usually, the opposite is true).
Why 3-? Because I, and all of you, will be living in a world that will be built by children aged 5 to 20 in the next 20-30 years. By the way, I spoke with a lovely 19-year-old girl yesterday, and she DID NOT choose a programmer profession. She chose another one, and her choice is indicative, as discussed below. So if you look into the minds of children, you’ll see only 3 things. 3. Three! What are these 3 things? 1st – Games. 2nd – Games. 3rd – Games. And if anyone is surprised and still thinks that Games (I mean, of course, computer games) are some nonsense, then, sorry, you belong to the 80% of people about whom Albert Golukhov said they are “incapable”. I won’t write about why Games are no longer what many of you think they are, as I stopped writing about it a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, Games have long been the only place where modern children grow up and learn. Does anyone still think it’s at school or, forgive me, at home? This means that the future will be made by those whose main paradigm in their head is Games. For them, it’s a familiar world, interface, environment, references, memes – a world where they learn about everything-everything-everything. But that’s not all. Games are currently the only place on earth where players have billions of interactions per second with AI of different levels – from controlling NPCs to real-time balancing. Do you think I exaggerated about billions per second? Wake up – 3 billion people in the world play games, which is 0.5 more than Christians. And do you think that the world’s IT infrastructure serves banking transactions the most? Yes, of course! So, the volume of AI usage cases in games, in general, is 3-4 orders of magnitude greater than anything that currently exists. It’s worth noting that all supporting professions from psychotherapy (Albert Golukhov is a rare topic where I fully support you) to ANY consulting and ANY teaching will inevitably shift to AI, and what is that if not an advanced NPC. These are facts, not to mention that it’s the gaming industry that is the main driver of truly high technologies. Nevertheless, none of the panel discussion participants even mentioned it, which leads to the conclusion that, with all due respect, they don’t understand something that people actually live with on this planet. And yes, although in Uganda, they still drink water from puddles, I’m 100% sure that games will reach there before the blessings of civilization. And we remember what happened in 3 facts: Hogwarts Legacy earned 850 million in 2 weeks after release. It’s only 5 million less than Avatar 2 collected. Just 3 days later, a game mod appeared (you can download it) where female heroes were undressed, humiliating the already upset haters of J.K. Rowling. The twin ballerinas from Atomic Heart became a meme and a sex symbol of the generation (a 42 cm doll costs only $350). By the way, you can buy a 162 cm rubber Jennifer from The Witcher for only $2500. (Did you not know this? Seriously?) By the way, the young lady I mentioned earlier chose a game designer profession and will create worlds instead of sitting in a dull cubicle at Google.
What do you choose? Creating worlds or a stuffy office with no dinosaurs? Anyone who has a brain sooner or later comes to literature, cinema, or games. Don’t believe it? Offer your child to become an accountant or a dentist. You don’t need to repeat what their answer will be. You’ll get banned for that here. Now, about the main and good thing. The event turned out to be excellent, and there are several reasons for that: 1) The people that Ruslan Gafarov and his team were able to gather. The range was from 13 (yes, one of the volunteers) to at least 80 (by appearance). I WAS NOT THE OLDEST GEEZER there. 2) People again. No, Igor Shoifot, it wasn’t a startup event for a single second. I’ve been to 100,000 startup gatherings, just like you. There’s nothing more dismal. Here, however, there were all sorts of people, and they came not to listen to the wretched beg for money from snobs, but to experience “the luxury of human interaction.” There were representatives of all professions, entrepreneurs, startuppers (where would we be without them), but the startuppers looked lost compared to those who make real money and don’t walk around with their hands outstretched. 3) What united everyone was something common – openness, the desire to communicate, find new people, develop, grow, grow, grow, do something together, exchange ideas. And not to measure virtual dicks, as they do at startup gatherings. 4) The division into a large hall where there was a plenary session and a room for those who preferred live communication was very successful. Choice is good. It’s democracy. 5) Everything was perfectly organized in record time. Ruslan Gafarov, you’re a cyborg with AI on board. Things like this aren’t done on such a scale and so quickly and so coolly. I’ve been in this business, it’s a wild hassle, crunch, headache, burnout, you hate everyone. And you had the strength to talk to everyone. What’s your secret? And who did you recruit to your team? Special forces on minimum wage? When they tried to give me some brochures, I refused in protest against the innocent trees killed. And they laughed, that is, they were able to keep a sense of humor in such conditions. It’s worth its weight in gold. 6) What was really great was that there were a lot of guys from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and yet everyone got along perfectly, there wasn’t a single sour or angry face. There were no problems, everyone wants to live. As the Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” No one talked about war. Do you understand? Everyone understands, for many it is a tragedy, but everyone remained bright and positive. All these people came here to create and cooperate. By the way, many, VERY, f*cking many came from Russia in the last year, 6, 3 months. When the host asked, “Hey, immigrants, why did you come here from Russia?” everyone laughed and clapped. And these “emigrants” represent the elite, and not just IT specialists. A bunch of super professional people, including business owners with annual turnover up to 2 billion dollars, who understood everything and, like Mayflower almost 400 years ago, came here to create their destiny. Moreover, for the same reasons why the first settlers left Europe. America still gives people a dream, and it was amazing at this gathering… HOW MANY PEOPLE REALIZED THEIR DREAMS here By the way, Kolya Davydov noticed that he had been to Plag&Play 50 times, but this was the first time with SO MANY PEOPLE. And all 100% Russian-speaking from the CIS. This is undoubtedly a new wave of emigration, but not offended and oppressed Jews and dissidents, who left because of anti-Semitism and persecution, not beggars who left for a better life.
The new wave consists of modern, advanced, highly professional, successful, and ambitious people who will create super startups (lucky for you, Igor Shoifot, Alexander Soroka, Nick Davidov), build spacecraft, and create a new world here. All those whom Russia has lost forever. This gives hope because until now, the Russian-speaking diaspora here has represented, well… not the most optimistic sight. Especially compared to the Chinese, Indians, and others. Against the background of others, Russians, frankly, looked rather pale with a dense trail of Brighton Beach. But the people I saw create a completely different feeling. These people know how to win, and apparently, this new Russian mentality will be created precisely here. Not in Europe (about London with oligarchs, it’s funny), not in Asia, and not in any of the 70 countries where smart people ran away from the stinking pit. In addition to many who live here in the Bay Area, large teams came from Eleya (Hello to the neighbors. 5 hours on 5th), a huge fun team came from Miami (Florida). There were guys from Chicago, from New York, someone flew from Dubai, someone I saw from Seattle. Not to mention Santa Cruz (Ruslan Gafarov – I told you it’s the best place in the Valley). They gathered more than 400 people in an extremely short time (although they originally planned for 80). Results: If you want to keep up with AI news, you have two options – keep up or find yourself where you thought in 5 years. AI will undoubtedly take away many jobs. The speakers optimistically said that it will also create new ones. My friend Meatman laughs at this nasty laughter. Ruslan Gafarov – author, write more! I am ready to help as much as possible, although, as you understand, my help is only 0.000001 opportunities. Albert Golukhov – what are we compared to the veteran of the Valley? Nevertheless, I am ready to promote. You want to help a good cause. I think the next stage is Las Vegas, only for us, 25,000 people. Can you handle it?
