#14 – Walid Saba on Natural Language
In Algo Podcast Episode 14, Walid Saba and Amjad Hussain discuss Natural Language.
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0:00 Introduction
4:14 Walid’s AI journey
5:30 Passion for language
7:08 Language research after AI Winter
7:46 Misguided hype in Modern Day AI
10:15 Aliens, key features of language & where meaning comes from
14:40 Earliest signs of language & advance in human brain
16:42 Common knowledge is not as complex as we think
19:55 Language is relatively new, what triggered it?
22:04 Noam Chomsky Language Faculty
24:28 Implications in believing that language is biological
26:57 Quantifier scope
27:40 Achieving language competency
29:44 Understanding Natural Language Framework
32:20 Difference between “learning” from Experience, Observations & Data
36:38 Backpropagation
37:50 Deep learning is the neural networks of the 80’s
38:59 Challenges with self driving cars
41:43 GPT-3 Hype
42:43 Going back to the drawing board for AGI
44:50 Another AI Winter?
51:39 Good, Bad, and Ugly of AI
53:35 Building Company AI Strategies
55:48 Multi-disciplinary AI teams
56:39 Living with incremental AI change
59:03 Bashing of Symbolic AI
1:01:22 Interdisciplinary AI Studies & Melanie Mitchell
1:05:04 Limitations of Advanced AI
1:15:00 ontologik
1:18:04 Adjective Ordering Restriction Mystery
1:19:44 Goal of Language Understanding
1:22:19 How to contact ontologik
1:23:55 Advice for learners of language
1:28:02 Relationship between intelligence, language, and consciousness
1:33:04 Gödel’sIncompleteness Theory
1:34:49 Who shaped Walid’s thinking?
1:37:10 Closing Thoughts
Why a podcast about human-centered AI?
People are either talking about artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, deep learning, etc. in a very technical way or not at all. Having studied Computer Science and Advanced Analytics and created an AI – advanced analytics supply chain company, I understand first-hand how valuable the field is, but not everyone does. I want to change that. We can all learn principles of AI and implement them in very practical ways. Whether you want to automate a part of your business or create a new business altogether, AI can help you. My goal through this podcast is to simplify AI.
Calling it a podcast gives you a broad understanding of how we’ll communicate, but the format will be much more engaging than just audio. However, you can listen to AI Simplified like a traditional podcast too.
Amjad Hussain
Founder + Chief Executive Officer, Algo
About the host

Amjad Hussain
Amjad Hussain is an entrepreneur at heart. He founded Algo where he is the CEO during the day and AI lego blocks designer at night. He has built an intrinsically motivated global team of deep business domain experts, AI architects, computer scientists and software engineers. Algo is an always on full stack platform with deep learning, augmented reality and workflow automation woven at its core. The platform has a conversational virtual business analyst persona as its primary user interface. The company is enjoying sustainable growth creating tremendous net new value for its customers world-wide.
Amjad completed his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering with Honors from UET Lahore. He earned his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UMIST, in the United Kingdom and an Advanced Analytics MBA from MIT. He has completed general management programs at Harvard and Stanford business schools. Amjad deeply cares about ethical issues surrounding AI and its societal impact.