We're on the cusp of a computing revolution. Apple's been teasing ambient computing through the Home Pod and Apple TV, while Meta's pushing VR's limits with fresh avatar tech. Meanwhile, OpenAI's ChatGPT made a splash last year.

You'd think the tech giants with nearly infinite amounts of capital and users would surely would lead the charge, but the beauty of innovation is that there is always room for upset.

Last week Avi Schiffmann beat everyone to market, unveiling world’s first wearable AI, Tab.

A quick guide for AI neophytes

If you’re up to date with today’s AI capabilities you can skip this. ChatGPT wrote the below, it seemed to like the idea of emojis here.

• 🎩 AI (Artificial Intelligence): That magical stuff making machines seem like they've got brains. Basically, think of a robot trying to act like your smart cousin, Alex, from grad school.

• 💡 OpenAI: The brilliant kids' club that's crafting these pseudo-brains. A bit like Willy Wonka's factory, but instead of chocolate rivers, they've got rivers of code.

• 🚀 GPT-3 (The Big Tease): An AI masterpiece from OpenAI that's a bit like the high school overachiever - sings, dances, does math - but occasionally messes up the punchline.

• 🔥 GPT-4 (The Big Kahuna): The sequel to GPT-3. Like taking your high school overachiever, sending them to Harvard, and then injecting them with a dose of superstar. Sophisticated, smoother, and even sassier.

• 🤖 AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): Imagine AI on steroids. An AI that's not just smart but broad and deep, thinking and learning like us humans.

• 🧠 Context in AGI: AGI's secret sauce. It’s the difference between an AI saying, "I know Paris" and understanding whether you're talking about Paris, Texas or Paris Hilton or that place with the Eiffel Tower. Avi's bet? Give AGI context, and you've got something close to a brainy buddy in your pocket.

Avi the conquerer

At the age of 20 Avi has accomplished more in his later teens than many accomplish in a lifetime.

At the start of the pandemic Avi crafted a COVID-19 tracker from scratch that attracted over 600 million curious (and concerned) eyes from every corner of the globe.

Just a few years later as Russia invaded Ukraine, Avi developed a platform for war-displaced Ukrainians refugees to find housing. This platform was used to help over 100,000 refugees find shelter amidst the terror of Russia’s invasion.

Avi spun these massively impactful projects into a non-profit, Internet Activism whose mission is described as “peace through code.”

Why the headline "Avi the Conqueror"? It stems from both the zeal Avi channels into solving problems and his distinct art collection.

Over breakfast a few days before filming, Avi shared his life ambitions and background. He's the kind of person who, upon meeting, you're instantly convinced of their imminent success—his palpable hunger, vision, and proven track record do that. Mirroring his life approach is his art collection, which features a bust of Julius Caesar, a grand tapestry of Roman soldiers in march, a statue of a legionary in action, Napoleon's rearing horse poster, and the Oppenheimer poster. In the episode, he delves deeper into his deep-rooted fascination with the Roman Empire.

“Men used to build armies and conquer kingdoms, now you raise capital and conquer markets,” Avi explained in the episode.

AI’s missing piece: context

Artificial intelligence has long grappled with a subtle but crucial shortcoming: understanding or a total lack of context. While AI can process vast amounts of data at lightning speed, it often fumbles when asked to discern the nuanced web of human experiences, emotions, and relationships that give meaning to raw information. Without context, AI operates in a vacuum, offering outputs that, while technically accurate, can be emotionally tone-deaf or misaligned with human intentions.

Truly transformative AI must evolve to perceive the unspoken subtleties embedded within our queries, making "context" the linchpin in the next frontier of machine intelligence. Avi foresees a world where technology seamlessly blends into our lives, rich with context yet never invasive.

Tab is a small, disk like wearable device that is advertised to be work as a necklace. In the episode you can see Avi wearing it around his neck.

Tab represents more than just a wearable AI; it symbolizes the aspiration to transform technology into an intuitive ally. By transforming speech into text, Tab can identify patterns, ideas, and concepts. This data feeds into a unique system that retains and engages with the user, consistently building upon prior context.

In essence, it's like having ChatGPT, but without the need for explicit prompts or directives; it already understands you based on your past interactions.

At its core, Avi's mission is rooted in pushing human potential. As he succinctly puts it, "Your only barrier to building quite literally anything is your own personal motivation to do it." Avi goes on to describe his experiences learning whatever he’s interested in by just chatting with ChatGPT.

The vision for Tab

For Avi, the quintessential idea isn't just to build another tool — he wants to rewrite our digital lexicon. Picture the iPod’s seismic cultural splash. Now, amplify that with the immense potential of AI to revolutionize daily experiences, and you've got Tab. Drawing inspiration from OpenAI's forays, Avi believes that, given the right context, the likes of GPT-4 is essentially AGI. If creating the wheel was humanity’s debut in innovation, for Avi Tab is our bold stride into a brave new universe.

Some say trying to revolutionize every industry is akin to "boiling the ocean", but Avi's gusto reminds us that it’s the audacious dreams that often reshape realities. His track record reflects his unyielding spirit: from pandemic trackers and digital humanitarian platforms to the frontier of wearable AI. As the boundaries between man and machine grow increasingly porous, Avi’s vision assures us that this melding won't just be seamless, but also immensely enriching.

After questioning the traditional advice of focusing on one market and problem at a time, with a light grin Avi said, “I don’t know, maybe we do boil the ocean.”

In an era where information is at our fingertips, Tab's vision is to make accessing that information as organic as a thought. Avi Schiffmann's dream is not just about building an AI; it's about sculpting the future of human-tech interaction.

And if Tab's journey so far is any indication, that future is not far off. In just 5 hours Tab sold 100 of its $600 beta units. This is a product people understand, want badly, and are willing to pay serious cash to get.

Thanks for breakfast and filming this past week Avi, looking forward to beta testing Tab — I can’t wait to use it to help writing S³ posts like this.

Keep on building the future,

— Jason