Evolving Business Minds

Navigating The Future With A.I. with Manuj Aggarwal | #119

• Andy Silvius • Episode 119

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Discover the remarkable journey of Manuj Aggarwal, from a factory worker earning mere dollars to the founder of Tater Noodle Technologies, a pioneer in the AI industry. Our conversation with Manuj is a testament to the power of defiance against societal expectations and the relentless pursuit of one's passion for technology. His tale is not just about personal triumph; it's a riveting narrative of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that challenges the traditional trajectories of success.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world, and who better to guide us through this transformative landscape than an AI trailblazer himself? Manuj Aggarwal illuminates the often misunderstood path of AI, from its early inception to its modern-day applications that span education, healthcare, and beyond. We explore how AI's pattern recognition capabilities are revolutionizing industries and why businesses must adapt to stay competitive. Manuj's insights are a clarion call to embrace AI, lest we find ourselves sidelined in the technological renaissance.

As we peer into the crystal ball of our technological future, Manuj Aggarwal shares his provocative thoughts on the potential of Neuralink and the concept of an AI-driven presidency. The implications for society are profound, as each advance offers a mirror reflecting our collective choices. Finally, we delve into the importance of self-assessment in uncovering one's true purpose, a principle that has shaped Manoj's path and could very well influence yours. Tune in for a stimulating discussion that promises to expand your horizons and spark your curiosity about the vast potentials of AI.

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Andy Silvius:

All right. Welcome to a new episode of the Evolving Business Minds podcast. Today's guest is a global thought leader in startups and AI. He's an elite technology consultant and business mentor. He's also the author of two best-selling books and the host of Bootstrapping your Dreams podcast. I want to welcome Manoj Agarwal to the show.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Thank you so much, excited to be here.

Andy Silvius:

Absolutely. I'm excited to have you on here. So, for everyone listening, we're going to be discussing a lot of topics around AI and business, so it should be a good show. Manoj, before we get going, why don't you take a minute to just let everyone know an overview of what you currently do and where they can reach you?

Manuj Aggarwal:

Sure. So I run a company called Tater Noodle Technologies, so we are a software engineering company. We specialize in AI, blockchain and all the latest technologies. So we work with businesses who are looking for technology solutions. Some businesses want to implement solutions in their existing business to make it more efficient, more productive and find new opportunities, and we also work with entrepreneurs who have new ideas for new products or services they want to bring to the market. So we work with them to build their technology and help them bring it to market.

Andy Silvius:

Okay, that's awesome. And then you're on all social media platforms, correct?

Manuj Aggarwal:

Correct, yeah.

Andy Silvius:

Okay, we'll link all those in the show notes. So, as I was preparing for this episode, one of the things that really caught my attention was your childhood, the story of your childhood. Now you went from making $2 a day in factories to now being a successful business owner and advising Fortune 500 companies. Do you mind just telling us a little bit more about your upbringing and how you got where you are today?

Manuj Aggarwal:

Yeah, so the journey started in India and it was a very small town and you know in India, india 30 years ago was a developing country. Now it is an economic powerhouse in the world.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So, back then in a small town there were not a lot of opportunities, not a, you know, not even a good educational institution to get higher education, a good educational institution to get higher education. So it was kind of you know life was kind of, you know, just like make do with what you have. And I wanted to. I wanted to change my life and I got some inspiration one day from some business magazines and I read some stories of you know successful tycoons who have built their empires. And I thought to myself, like you know, successful tycoons, uh, who have built their empires.

Manuj Aggarwal:

And I thought to myself, like you know, these, these people are similar to me and they are human beings and you know, doing great things in the world. Like how can I make a difference? And so, uh, you know, that thought sort of percolated in my mind and eventually that led me to discover my passion for technology, software, computers, and I started going deeper and deeper into it, building technologies for other companies, having a lot of fun, helping people. Because with technology what I realized was the cool thing is you can basically just write some code on your computer and share it with like tens of thousands of people and it helps them help, uh ends up helping them and uh, you know so.

Andy Silvius:

So that was a cool, cool experience and I really like it, for for that reason I'm curious um you know, growing up like that, working in factories, were you one of the few people in your family to like branch out and do something different, or yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Manuj Aggarwal:

I mean, you know, uh, my dad, uh, I'll, I'll um in full transparency. My dad owned the factory and he raised me as a factory worker and at that time I hated it. Uh, he just wanted me to be like, you know, like a real hardcore, like hardworking person, and that's what he was trying to teach me. But at that time, like I wanted to pick a different direction and nobody had ventured out into something new or never set foot outside of India, set foot outside of India. So it was like a complete 180 degree life that I picked and I got a lot of pushback from my family members, my cousins. I remember like in many instances my cousins were actually told to stay away from me because I was bad news and bad influence for them. So it was, it was kind of a interesting, interesting, you know, experience for me. But I I knew that if I follow my heart, I you know it'll lead me to the right place.

Andy Silvius:

Right? Did you have a lot of disapproval from your dad from going in a different direction?

Andy Silvius:

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely from your dad from going in a different direction, even yeah, absolutely, absolutely yeah. So that's tough, right, like I think a lot of people have um who branch out and want to do something different than their family or become self-employed. Having um, having the disapproval of your family or just people who are questioning you, can sometimes push you out of it, right, like push you into the direction you don't want to go because people are too afraid of what others think, especially family For you. How were you able to keep that momentum and kind of ignore the noise from everyone else doubting you?

Manuj Aggarwal:

You know, as you said, like you know I think again I'm generalizing here but a boy's mind is formed a lot by his relationship with his dad, you know, and if you don't have a good relationship you become rebellious. And at that point you know, and as a young teenage boy like you already think you know everything. You know you already are invincible. So when you combine all these things, you know, it's like the more pushback you get, the more you know, you get a sense of okay, I'll show you one day. You know, like that rebellious streak. Now the thing is that rebellious streak. Now the thing is that rebellious streak can go in multiple directions. You know, I was lucky that I was able to channel it into a constructive thing, and that is not to say this is the right way to go live your life, or you know, have a teenage experience Because you know, I got in a lot of trouble as well.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Like you know, I I was always uh a troublemaker uh, but in school, in in university and even in my professional life it sort of carried through. Uh. You know, when I started working with people I was like uh, very uh, very dismissive uh of people, uh, you know, not listening and all that. So it's's not like I had an easy way resisting what I was resisting, but somehow that resistance was channeled into a constructive thing which led me to this career and I learned a lot about myself, what my shortcomings were, why, why I behaved the way I behave? Because of the experience I had in my childhood.

Andy Silvius:

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Andy Silvius:

Yeah, it's impressive to be able to face that kind of those kind of challenges and then continue and not go down the wrong path, because many people do take that rebellious streak and then they go in the wrong direction and end up in more than just adolescent, you know, uh troubles. So. So I did read that when you signed up for the computer institute, which is where you kind of got your start, that the tuition costs more than a year's salary. Um, were you nervous, or did you have any doubts whether you should spend that kind of money on education?

Manuj Aggarwal:

No, I mean, you know, I mean OK. So the thing is like sometimes, when you listen to your heart and intuition, if you will, you know that, ok, this is a path that I really want to experience, and I don't know what the outcome will be, but I just want to go down this path and see what happens, right. So when you get that kind of a mental attitude, then then the cost is is less important um than than the experience you want to get. So my, my uh thought process was look, I want to build value in the world, I want to improve my life, and computers are one way I could do it, and this is the only shot I have. Like I don't, I don't see any other way out right now. So what is a year's worth of salary? If you know, if I, if I can uh, alter my entire life or regret it for my entire life, that hey, you know what if I?

Manuj Aggarwal:

went there and I, you know, made something and I'm glad I picked the right choice.

Andy Silvius:

Yeah, I mean, I've had the privilege of speaking with a lot of business owners and the ones that there's a lot of people who have those choices right To either go forward or kind of stay where they're at.

Andy Silvius:

And I, I used to be an employee with a lot of other you know, coworkers and friends and I will tell you there's a massive amount of people in the world that have regrets about things they didn't try. It's super scary when you're trying to go through it, when you're trying new things and you're putting out, you know you're putting a lot of money on the line and just the risk that you're taking. But but yeah, what would it? What would it have looked like if you didn't do it? You know, 10, 15 years down the road, and that's actually one of the things that pushed me out of being a mechanic and an employee is I kept walking into work every day, going do I want to be in this position 5, 10, 15 years down the road or more? And the answer was no, and it just got harder and harder for me to stay there, because I always thought about that same question.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Exactly, and I think one of my mentors says this beautifully. I'm paraphrasing. I may butcher it, but he says you know the cost of taking risk is high, but wait till you get the bill from regret. Yeah, yeah.

Andy Silvius:

So do you think the cost of taking risk is high, but wait till you get the bill from regret, yeah, yes. So do you think the struggles you faced growing up, uh, had a positive or negative impact on who you are today?

Manuj Aggarwal:

I, I, I believe, you know, I believe, uh, and again, um, this may sound, uh, this may sound like a cruel to some people I think every suffering that we go through is a lesson that we have to learn. Um, so definitely everything that that happened in my childhood good, bad, you know, it's a way to teach us and prepare us for what is to come. So I don't regret it at all, of course, while while going through it you are miserable, you are, like you know, really frustrated all of that, and you know it's not like those frustrations go away, like new frustrations. Take, you know, you solve one problem in life. It gives rise to like five other problems, right, yeah, so that is the circle of life, and you keep learning new lessons and moving on and all that.

Andy Silvius:

Do you mind if I share the other part of your story that I read? Oh sure. You know. So what I read is that you know you met your wife through the computer program and then you guys ultimately had to run away because family didn't support you. Yeah, I mean, that's a whole other direction too. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a whole nother direction too.

Andy Silvius:

How, how? I guess my question is after having to leave your family in your home, did they, did you ever find acceptance from them and the things that you were doing, or has it always been strained from that?

Manuj Aggarwal:

um, you know, it's uh, relationships are very tricky. You know, once you have like, uh, like a crack, they never come back to the original place. But over time, you know, you learn a lot about each other and you start to understand each other's point of view. We may still not agree, but we can say, oh, okay, I understand why you did this, why you did that right. So, yeah, I mean, you know, and India is a complex society, you know.

Manuj Aggarwal:

You know things have changed now, but back then dating was not even a concept like there was. Like, you know, you don't go out and meet somebody and say, okay, I want to marry. It's like your parents pick your spouse and you get married to whoever, and you may or may not even meet them before you get married. That's, that's the way society is set up there. So so, you know, going in a different direction, I think my problem is I I always want to, you know, just experience something new. I don't want to go down the path where everybody goes, and that leads me into unique situations. But it also leads me into a lot of resentment with people because they don't like it, when, you know, when I reject their ways.

Andy Silvius:

Right, yeah, that's interesting. Well, I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about AI, because that is the that's what you do, so I want to like. First, let's just go over what are some of the things you've been involved with regarding AI.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Oh, so we have been working through my company on AI since 2006. And I have I have created many inventions, so I'll share a few examples. One of the patented technology that we created was to help students learn in a personalized manner. So a lot of you know, universities obviously have tons of students in a classroom, let's say 50 students and the professor or the teacher is going to teach them exactly the same curriculum. But we know, out of 55, students may know the topic and they can move ahead quickly, and then 10 or 15 students may be lagging behind an average and they need extra support. But in a classroom of 50, you know, even if you have some teaching assistants, you cannot provide personalized uh, personalized attention to everyone. So with ai we are able to assess okay, you know what, what is their level, each individual's level, and then customize the curriculum in the same classroom for each student.

Andy Silvius:

so they get the best and is this based on like a test? Do they take a test up front that kind of helps assess their yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's a continuous learning process.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So we start with giving them the test, but as they go through the class, you know the AI is always monitoring them, their activities and all that and adjusting the curriculum according to that. So that's one example. Another one is we created another patented technology to help patients with joint pains, and so what happens is sometimes people have flat feet or high arches, so it's all about related to the way that your feet are constructed, and so surgery and medication doesn't help, obviously, because it's part of your anatomy.

Manuj Aggarwal:

And so surgery and medication doesn't help, obviously, because it's part of your anatomy. So what we did was we created 3D printed orthotics which were custom fitted within two millimeters of your feet's dimensions and that provided the right support, the right, you know, sort of pressure at the right pressure points which help with joint pains, athletic performance and whatnot. So that technology was licensed by a German company and they sold it under their brand.

Andy Silvius:

You may know Dr Scholl's oh yeah, and so you were involved with helping them figure all of that out.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So my company built the entire technology, hired the team, helped them with everything.

Andy Silvius:

Yeah, it's funny because those are two very different paths, right like the or or tools. You know, one is education based, the other is athletic performance based. How did you, I guess? How did you figure out or get involved with something that was so completely different? Or are the programs on the backend similar?

Manuj Aggarwal:

See, when we talk about AI, let me give a simple explanation about AI. What AI is? See, our mind is a pattern recognition machine. Okay, so even a child, let's say a five-year-old child if that child touches the hot stove, immediately the reaction is okay, I should not touch the hot stove because it'll hurt me. And even at five years old, our mind is able to record that data point and understand. Okay, this is what my ideal reaction should be. So now imagine that five-year-old child is in the middle of Antarctica and it's really really cold out there and wind is blowing, and the child is now wearing heat resistant gloves. And now the child touches the hot stove, it will actually feel pleasant, you know, it will not feel as cold, right? So even at five year old now the child is learning. In this situation, there are multiple variables that I you know. I should consider these variables and, based on that, this is my reaction.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So, AI is a very powerful and complex mechanism where it now extrapolate this situation to you know, okay, predict the weather for the next 14 days, or find cure for cancer, or what have you right Now, in these situations, the variables involved are like so complex and hundreds of thousands or millions of variables are involved that our human mind is not able to understand this, but AI can understand it. So, to come back to your point, whether it's education, whether it's healthcare, the only thing that we are looking for is what are the patterns in data, and once AI recognizes those patterns, then we can apply the solution to education. We can apply the solution to healthcare, sports manufacturing, whatever, it doesn't matter.

Andy Silvius:

Yeah, that's really interesting. I never would have thought about it. I mean, I guess maybe in some ways I'd think about it in patterns, but I didn't realize it was so closely related like that. The other question I have, I guess, is when it comes to AI, you said that it started in 2006. I think most people are thinking about chat, gbt and the things that we see that have come out within the last year, year and a half, I guess. I'm just surprised to hear that it was started that far back. Oh okay, was it very rudimentary?

Manuj Aggarwal:

I started working with AI in 2006, but AI has been around since 1960s. Okay, so the evolution of AI you know. Again, back then it was not even called AI. You know it has gone through various names. The idea here is that around the year I mean as the internet came online 1990s, you know people started to connect with each other, more data was produced and computers became more powerful. So what we call AI started to progress more because there was more foundational infrastructure to build more powerful algorithms and new use cases to solve problems. And people who recognize this trend early by the way, around 1995, 97, you may recognize some names like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

Manuj Aggarwal:

All these people have made their money using AI because they saw the power of all this very, very early on and they started building these humongous companies. So, like, amazon is an AI company. Like you know, there is no magic behind you. Place an order with Amazon and it shows up in a few hours or the next day. It's AI doing all the magic behind the scenes, right? Elon Musk, companies like Tesla and SpaceX. Like there is no magic that he is able to land the rocket back on planet earth. It's all AI balancing everything in real time. You know, tesla is an AI company where everything is driven by AI.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So what happened was AI as a technology needed a lot of smart engineers, a lot of investment, and it was not accessible to everyone, but people who knew how to use it. They they've benefited from it. But in 2022, chat gpt came along and it sort of democratized it. It made the technology available to everyone. They didn't need any investment. They didn't need any, like you know, other complex uh uh knowledge or college degrees or whatever. Everybody was able to use it. So that is the uh, the key uh innovation that chat gpt brought and made it accessible to everyone. And now this is not the last innovation that is going to happen in in, in, yeah, like, maybe in a couple of years, there's going to be yet another leap where, you know, something new will open up which we don't even know about yeah, it's uh, it's just interesting.

Andy Silvius:

I guess the whole time you were talking about that. What I'm thinking of, too, are like algorithms. When we, when we all talk about social media platforms and algorithms, like that's probably a form of ai, correct, okay? So I'm curious, because if we've been using forms of AI through all these years previous to now, why is it that chat, gbt seems to be something that's getting so much attention and then so much like there's so many mixed feelings about the future and using AI? But if we've already been using it, I guess what would be causing the concern more now than before?

Manuj Aggarwal:

Okay, that's a great question. You know, see, as I said, first of all, why ChatGPT is getting so much attention is because it has made it easy to use technology for everyone, so think about iPhone.

Manuj Aggarwal:

You know, before iPhone we used to carry around like bigger phones. They were not very. I mean, they made calls but that's about it, like they didn't do anything much more than that. Right when iPhone came along, it was so easy to use that Even if you gave that phone to a child, they'll just like take five minutes and then they'll use their fingers and they'll figure out oh, you know, this is doing this.

Manuj Aggarwal:

And then they opened it up and did okay, you know you can add as many apps you can add on it. You know it's, it's a camera, it's a GPS, all of it, like everything rolled into one, and it changed the world forever. Now we cannot live without a phone, right? And, by the way, everything that you, everything that you see on that device is done through ai, everything. So, so if you're using a smartphone, you're already using yeah, right now, this, this record, this call we are recording right now. You know we are sitting, uh, probably thousands of miles away it is being optimized by ai in the background.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Okay, so people need to know ai is already here. Why the concern now? See, when iPhone came along, it sort of disrupted telecom industry, okay. So now today I can make a phone call to any part of the world for free. And before that I remember if I had to make a call I had to spend a huge amount of money, maybe buy that long distance calling card or whatnot. Right, I remember if I had to make a call, you know, I had to spend a huge amount of money.

Manuj Aggarwal:

maybe buy that long distance. You know calling cards or whatnot, right, yeah.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Uber came along, I used to have to wave to a taxi. You know, I always worried about how much they're going to charge. Uber came along and I don't have to worry about it. And the taxi drivers who used to pay $250,000 to get a medallion to buy a taxi they don't have to worry about it. And the taxi drivers who used to pay $250,000 to get a medallion to buy a taxi they don't have to do that anymore.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So every technology that disrupts an industry, it makes things easier for somebody, but it also causes some problems for somebody else. Now what is happening is every job has been disrupted. Airbnb disrupted the hotels. You know Expedia disrupted a hotel. You know flight bookings. Uber disrupted taxis. But the problem is now with AI, every job seems to be disrupted, right. So now people are getting worried what is going to happen to my job? But the key is, if they look at it from a different angle, it is actually going to give them more power to earn more and do less and enjoy their time more. So I ask people okay, you are afraid that AI is going to take away your job. So let's say there is no AI and let's say, you know you get a $10 million check sitting in your bank tomorrow. What will you do? You know what is your goal with your job? Oh, I want to retire. I want to buy a big home. I want to go to the beach, right, yeah. And that's what AI is going to do for people who embrace it today.

Andy Silvius:

I agree, I talk about this a lot. I actually always have one question on my podcast, which is the following question for you, because we're just talking about AI, but it is. It's one of those game changers for business. Right now I'm using it at a very basic level, but it still helps our output. It helps us increase our output for whether it's media, I mean especially for the podcast. There's a lot of times when we're writing descriptions for all of our content that's going out. It helps us kind of do that. The biggest thing for me. I use it as a brainstorming tool. I have a very difficult time sitting looking at a blank page and so I might have a concept or framework that I'm working on and I can go back and forth with chat, gbt and just get feedback and kind of help build upon the idea.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Exactly, exactly.

Andy Silvius:

I am curious, though, how you think AI has currently affected business owners and entrepreneurs, and how do you think it will affect them in the future at the rate we're going.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Yeah, I mean, as you said, like you know, it has enabled people to do things that they were not able to do before. Like you know, I'm terrible with communications in written language. So, just like you said, like you know, ChatGPT can be used for writing and improving your communication. But this is just scratching the surface. Like you know, new inventions are going to be made, new discoveries are going to be made, just because AI has enabled it, and the reason is this because in this industrial age, everybody has a deep knowledge of a specific topic.

Manuj Aggarwal:

But the thing is, inventions and discoveries happen when you combine multiple fields of study. So, for example, let's say, I combine automobile, my knowledge of automobiles, with the knowledge of aerodynamics, or the knowledge of you know how, I don't know, like how to make the automobile go faster, how to make it more comfortable, how to, you know, install accessories in it, whatever that is. Now, these are two different areas of knowledge, right, and before AI came along, before chat GPT came along, you had to have knowledge, or people with these knowledge come together in a team and do it. Now with AI, with chat GPT. Think of chat GPT as a super intelligent human being that knows about everything and everything. Right.

Andy Silvius:

And now you can combine those.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Exactly, exactly. So now it becomes easier to say, hey, I'm trying to invent this new thing in healthcare and I want to borrow some principles from the automotive industry, like how do they create these parts? And I want to create some sort of a device to cure back pain. Before ChatGPT came along, you're like okay, I first need to know how to cure back pain. Second, I need to know how automobiles are designed. Third, I need to know how industrial design happens. All of that right. But with ChatGPT you can say, okay, I don't know anything about all this, but just guide me step by step. How do I get there? Right?

Andy Silvius:

Right. How do you feel about people who are not taking advantage of using AI right now? Do you think that they're in jeopardy, long-term, to be pushed out of the marketplace? Absolutely in jeopardy, down long-term, to be pushed out of the marketplace.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Absolutely, absolutely. So again, this is not my, my, my saying, like my words, but I'll. I'll give you a few examples here. So in 1995, I started using the internet for the first time. I logged into the internet for the first time Okay.

Manuj Aggarwal:

In 1998, I was applying for my first job, entry-level job and if I didn't have an email address and a word resume, I was not going to be able to apply for an entry-level job in three years, right? So the world had changed in three years. Now again, think about iPhone 2007,. Iphone was released. And in 2008, 2009, perhaps, like, if I did not have an iPhone, I could not, like, log into my bank account or you know, like you know, find my way to a new place where I didn't know the directions. You know, like the world had changed in two, three years, right. And now it's again the same thing where it is going to change so much that if you don't catch up, like, imagine if you start a business today and say, okay, you know, I don't need a smartphone, I don't need an email address, I don't need a website, I'm going to go with yellow pages and white pages and that's my business, right? How far are you going to get?

Andy Silvius:

Not far. Yeah not far at all. That's a good example too, because I think we all I mean when you put it in those terms, I think it makes it very clear that it's going to be a big progression and it's probably going to be a little faster than the two to three year mark that you've had before. And I agree. I just know there's a lot of people I've spoken with that are like I'm not touching it, they're fearful of it, they think it's going to destroy everything.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So how do you think business owners right now can use AI to their advantage? As I said earlier, you know.

Manuj Aggarwal:

first things is I advise people to understand where they are spending most of their time, Because in every business 80% of the results come from 20% of the efforts, and then the rest of the 80% is just the drudgery of work. You know the mundane, repetitive work that we have to do, and that's the thing that can be offloaded to machines and that will free up 80% of your time and resources to do what you really enjoy doing. You know what is your passion. So I, when I work with clients, you know we only focus on finding first of all those low hanging fruit implement automation.

Manuj Aggarwal:

AI now the business starts to get return on finding first of all those low-hanging fruit. We implement automation AI. Now the business starts to get a return on investment. They start to open up their eyes and then they say, hey, can we do something here, Can we do something here? And then it starts to snowball automatically.

Andy Silvius:

I like how you just explained that you break it apart into small things or the things that are easiest to replace first and that's kind of how we've used it in our business right now is just taking the stuff, that is, the 80% of work that only presents a fraction of the results. It's just not as important, right? So we can utilize chat, gbt and AI or automation to just streamline those efforts. But you're right, there's a lot of people that just don't realize that 20% of the work you do it's the Pareto law, right, like 20% of the work you do produces 80% of the results, and most people are stuck on doing, you know, the 80% that doesn't? That only produces 20% of the results. Exactly exactly.

Manuj Aggarwal:

How familiar are you with the Neuralinkon musk, elon musk's neural link and ai um? I know just from the news. I haven't uh delved into it, but I know about the human mind from a different point of view, not uh from, like you know, the the more scientific point of view, in terms of you know how our, our brain emits all these electrical signals and whatnot, and that's what Neuralink is more about. My work involves a little bit more about you know how our neuroscience makes us think, makes us experience emotions, makes us, you know, sort of be the human being that we become, and that's where I focus on. But you know, that's sort of the overlap that I can say between my knowledge and Neuralink.

Andy Silvius:

So, in your opinion, just because you're in the AI field, do you think it's going to be a good or bad thing with Neuralink long term? Maybe not. In the short term it will be used like ChatGBT to fix moderate or small things. But 10, 15, 20 years down the road, do you think it's a good or bad thing that Neuralink See, in my opinion I will say Neuralink is a is just another invention, just another tool.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Okay, so the thing is that the misconception generally that I find in human beings in general, that we think we are special, we are separate from the world and somehow there is a boundary between us and the rest of the world, but every invention that we create is part of us, it's not separate from us. Okay, so, for example, I will say, when the wheel was invented, do you think somebody said, oh, is this a good thing for humanity or a bad thing for humanity? But now imagine life without wheel. Right.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Can you imagine human life without wheel?

Andy Silvius:

No. No. I mean early settlers wouldn't have been able to travel and bring everything across without it Exactly we cannot imagine life without fire, we cannot imagine life without electricity. And now.

Manuj Aggarwal:

We cannot imagine life without the internet. You know, so the thing is Neuralink in itself. How it will evolve, I cannot say whether it will stay the same or not, but every technology is a step ahead and we are on the path of building technology in such a way that the technology and our lives are intermingled. There is no separation from the creation of humans and the humans.

Andy Silvius:

So what I'm hearing you're saying is it's more of a natural progression, of just life.

Andy Silvius:

And everything we do is always just progressing us forward. I guess, when I think about it because I love sci-fi movies and stuff like that I think about ai. When we talk about nerlink, have you ever seen the movie called upgrade? No, it's something where they put a chip in his brain but really the, the computer, ends up taking over him like the host and uh. But you know, we watch these sci-fi movies. But you're right, I think everything we've done always progresses us forward. I just don't know if people would have had a fear over a wheel as much as they would over something that could potentially control society so let me explain this right.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Um, this is another common fear or question. The interesting part is, there are millions and millions and millions of species on this planet. Okay, there is one species that wages organized war against each other right that is human being no other species does that. So when we think about any technology, our immediate part is oh, if they become powerful, their first priority will be eliminate others, because that's how we think. Yeah.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Okay, but the fact is that every technology is neutral. It's only the human being behind the technology that is to be blamed for any misuse. That is to be blamed for any misuse. And to that I say just like AI can belong to bad guys, AI also belongs to the good guys, right? So the more good you do with the technology, like the gunpowder, like the atomic discoveries, like anything, like even the knife, you know, I can stab somebody with a knife, or I can use it as a surgical equipment or whatever, cook my food with it, whatever it is Right, Right. So the idea is that we need to first of all recognize that these fears, amplified by Hollywood movies and whatnot, they are just internal fears of humanity, you know, and and like, at the end of the day, it's just a tool, Like, if you don't like AI, just you know, pull the plug and switch it off and that's it.

Andy Silvius:

I like your outlook. I mean, obviously you're in the industry, but I think you know it's easy to just watch both sides. I definitely am a pro like. Like I said, I use AI at a basic level but I like it and it's increased our output. But you're right, anything can be used for good or bad and you're always going to have a mix of both. I mean even an automobile right.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Absolutely.

Andy Silvius:

So this kind of goes, this is. This may sound like a really odd question, but do you know who patrick bet david is? Patrick no he's just uh, he's a guy on online, he's got a oh yeah yeah, patrick david.

Manuj Aggarwal:

I think he's like very um successful entrepreneur.

Andy Silvius:

Yeah and he's got his podcast podcast. He put a clip out recently and it was an example of basically having an ai president in the future and how easy it would be for them to campaign against a human president, because theirs are based on logic, while human, human decisions are based on emotions, and so it was. So it was just this sample clip that they posted. That was like giving you an example of what it would look like if they were running against each other. Do you think that that's ever a possibility, just from your experiences? Do you think, down the road, we ever end up having some form of a AI or computer that would create the laws and be in charge of everything?

Manuj Aggarwal:

So the interesting thing once again is people put a lot of emphasis on a particular title, like president or whatever, but we don't realize it that AI is already doing most of it. It that AI is already doing most of it? Okay, how do you think presidents get elected in any country, let alone US? It's all about how do they campaign and how do the campaign. They campaign online and how do they campaign online? They know how to use the algorithms that are working and to get people to shift their mentality. Okay, it's all about data. You talk about the real. The real power lies in the hands of people who control money flow yes, banks, and and financial institutions and people don't seem to realize that 90% of the financial transactions in the whole world whole world are done by AI today. Okay, there is no person sitting behind a screen and saying, okay, let me buy this, let me buy that. No, we are.

Manuj Aggarwal:

AI algorithms trading with each other, and and that's how the world is working today. So to say that, oh, in the, in the future, there's going to be AI president. There's already all of these decisions being made based on data, so people need to really understand what is happening and not just say, oh, what happens if there's an AI president? What happens if every aspect of your life is already immersed in AI, which is already? We are living in that right now.

Andy Silvius:

You're right. I mean, as you were just saying, that I'm thinking credit cards. When you have a credit card transaction that flags fraud, it instantly stops your card and sends a notification. There's not a person on the other side that goes oh wow, they just bought this two seconds ago and this looks odd.

Andy Silvius:

You have a computer that's analyzing all the data from your history of purchases. So yeah, you're breaking this down in just simple terms, where I really didn't even think about AI being used in such just everyday activities. Now I guess my other question is just like a follow-up, since AI computers the internet is is also intertwined with our daily lives. There's been a lot of talk about people being worried about our power grids going down or solar flares taking out our grid. If we are so dependent on technology and things that are based on our electrical grid, what happens if it goes down? Do you think we go back to the stone ages?

Manuj Aggarwal:

or do you think there's enough? I guess? What do you think will end up happening? Okay, so here is how I will answer the question. Right, Like humans have been on this planet, modern humans, for 200,000 years and we have evolved over a few million years, right? Yeah.

Manuj Aggarwal:

So at one point in time in human history there were more Neanderthals than Homo sapiens, meaning a different version of humans. There were more of them than humans. Okay, and then there were, you know, I think, 12,000, 15,000 years ago. There was a huge ice age where the human population dwindled to about a thousand in the whole world. Okay, then we have gone through two world wars, millions and millions, tens of millions of people died. Okay, what I'm trying to get at is, whatever problem comes our way, the reason why we are the most dominant species on this planet we figure out how to solve that problem, right. So solar flares nobody can control solar flares right.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Whatever happens, we figure it out and if not, we adjust to that climate and the life goes on Right. Yeah.

Manuj Aggarwal:

We start to build life once again. I mean, look at every war-torn country. You know, japan got destroyed by atomic bombs, and now it is a superpower economic superpower bombs, and now it is a superpower economic superpower right? So humans have this resilience in them that again we were talking about this earlier the more pushback you get, you know, the more rebellious humans get. And that streak of saying, okay, you know, this happened, let me. Let me figure this out now. You know how do I move forward?

Andy Silvius:

the ability to adapt and survive yeah which we see in other animals too in the planet, yeah yeah, that's interesting. So before we get wrapped up, um, I usually have one last question, and so this is kind of an action item. What would you if you could leave listeners with one actionable item that would have a positive impact on them today? What would it be and why?

Manuj Aggarwal:

I think finding your why, finding your purpose and applying the right tools and technologies to basically realize your full potential, that is something that if people adopt, it will be a different world for them and for everyone else.

Andy Silvius:

How would you suggest somebody finds their why? I think that's a lot. I talk to a lot of people, myself included, at certain times. Figuring out what you want to do and why it's important to you is a struggle for a lot of people. So what have you done to figure out your why?

Manuj Aggarwal:

So I'll give a simple example. So there is a framework called Ikigai. It's a Japanese concept, it's called Ikigai and what it does is it helps you to figure out what you're good at, what you're passionate about, what does the world need and what the world is going to pay you for. So it's a four-step process you, you uh, and you can again this is a really good um use case for ai go to chat gpt and say, okay, I want to find my ikigai, and it will help you to zero in to this uh, this uh ikigai that you have in in japanese. What it means is your purpose for being okay. So that gives you a really good uh understanding of who you are, what you are here to do and how you can realize your full potential and live a prosperous life. So so use that framework.

Andy Silvius:

It's very, very helpful yeah, I think it is being able to use an assessment like that to just pinpoint, because it's hard when you just look at all of it and go well, I can do all these things, but I don't know what my why is.

Andy Silvius:

But that can kind of help, at least steer you in the right direction exactly well, manoj, I appreciate you being on the show today and taking the time to come on here and just talk about your experiences growing up and just AI and everything else. So thank you for for being here.

Manuj Aggarwal:

Absolutely, it was a pleasure.

Andy Silvius:

And then I just want to thank all of you guys who are listening. If you enjoyed the show and felt like it provided you value, I'd love to hear in the comments what stuck out the most to you. We'll see you on the next one. Thanks for watching.