Megan McCarty Carino

I'm Megan McCarty Carino.

We're back with Christopher Mims, author of the new book, How to AI.

Cut through the hype, master the basics, transform your work.

One of your laws of AI that was maybe a bit provocative was the idea that generative AI may not be kind of the most central AI to kind of how our world works.

Why is that the case?

So what do the various examples of how organizations are using AI now kind of tell you about the future of work and the future of the labor market?

That was Christopher Mims, author of the new book, How to AI, Cut Through the Hype, Master the Basics, Transform Your Work.

We'll link to Christopher's book on our website, MarketplaceTech.org.

Jesus Alvarado produced this episode.

I'm Megan McCarty Carino, and that's Marketplace Tech.

This is APM.

I'm on a busy street in Menlo Park, California, looking for some manholes.

Paul Vixie is my guide.

So we're just going out in the street.

He's a vice president at AWS Security, but back in the dot-com boom, he was an early internet innovator who helped build fiber optic cable networks under these manholes.

Vixie and I were on that street for a history lesson about this current AI boom, with billions being spent on huge, powerful data centers, and whether it echoes the dot-com boom and eventual bust.

I feel maybe we should move out of the street.

We did, after dodging some cars.

Back in the early 2000s, when those cables were being laid, telecommunications companies were also spending billions of dollars to build out fast and reliable Internet infrastructure, betting on bigger returns.

And what were the results of that giant building boom of fiber?