Latest / Dialed Up with T-Mobile / Mark Rober on AI, Curiosity & Future Tech | Ep. 1

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Mark Rober on AI, Curiosity & Future Tech | Ep. 1 · Dialed Up with T-Mobile

• 0:00
  People think I'm a good engineer.
• 0:02
  I'm an okay engineer, but I'm a pretty damn good storyteller.
• 0:05
  The trick is you just have to evoke like a visceral experience in the person watching.
• 0:11
  You don't reach someone by going through the brain, you reach them by going through the heart.
• 0:16
  When we're talking about advertising, it always has to evoke goosebumps, tears or laughter.
• 0:22
  You’re kind of making technology sexy and actually people are not really realizing that that's there because they're being so greatly entertained.
• 0:29
  I've learned how to hide the vegetables, basically make learning science, not just like learn it, but it's like exciting.
• 0:36
  And you want to do it.
• 0:36
  How do you package that in a story that gets anyone from 7 years old, to someone who's 70?
• 0:42
  The whole family can watch this.
• 0:58
  Hi, everyone.
• 0:59
  I'm Lucy McLellan, T-Mobile's Chief Branding and Communications Officer, and welcome to Dialed Up.
• 1:04
  If you're wondering about the name, yes, there's a little phone reference in there.
• 1:08
  We are T-Mobile, after all.
• 1:09
  But Dialed Up is really about turning up the things that make great conversations great.
• 1:15
  Each episode, you'll hear from leaders across T-Mobile as we sit down with innovators, creators, and changemakers to talk about what drives them, what they've about learned along the way, and how they make big ideas feel surprisingly human.
• 1:27
  Something about our guest today does that pretty freaking well.
• 1:31
  Our first guest helped build hardware that landed on Mars, then somehow turned engineering into one of the biggest entertainment genres on YouTube.
• 1:38
  Today, 80 million people tune in to watch him, to make the impossible feel understandable.
• 1:43
  He's also become a great friend of T-Mobile.
• 1:46
  helping us all tell stories about technology in ways that people can actually connect with.
• 1:51
  So let's get this thing dialed up and welcome our guest today, Mark Rober.
• 1:55
  Welcome to the show.
• 1:56
  Thanks so much for joining us.
• 1:57
  It’s great to be here.
• 1:58
  I have to say, in our household this morning, it was so exciting.
• 2:01
  My son was jazzed that I was going to talk to you today.
• 2:05
  You are what we call guilt-free screen time in our household.
• 2:08
  I'm not all about screens, which is ironic, given where I work.
• 2:11
  But I have to say, it always feels like learning.
• 2:14
  And so I have a couple of little fans of yours at home.
• 2:17
  I love that.
• 2:17
  What ages?
• 2:18
  Seven and five.
• 2:19
  Let's go.
• 2:20
  The seven year old's the boy and he's all into what you do.
• 2:22
  And I have to say, you’ve really set a standard for birthday parties in our household as well.
• 2:26
  I just feel like I'm never really going to hit the high bar.
• 2:29
  That's amazing.
• 2:30
  I love that because it's like that, that's a pretty young age.
• 2:34
  And for them to have something that, you know, I didn't even know what engineering was when I was their age.
• 2:39
  I didn't even know what engineering was when I was like 13 years old. Right?
• 2:43
  So, I love that we're getting them young.
• 2:45
  I think it's the benefit of what you do.
• 2:47
  I mean, you’re making academic concepts, I mean, you’re making academic concepts, digestible content, and entertaining content for kids.
• 2:54
  And so I think this is just such a wonderful way to learn, particularly when YouTube and Netflix are such big platforms at such younger ages now.
• 3:03
  So it is certainly guilt-free in our household.
• 3:05
  I do endorse it, and it's, we invite you into our-into our family every weekend.
• 3:08
  -Okay. Well, great.
• 3:09
  Happy to be there.
• 3:10
  And so I have to say, I said to him this morning, if you were able to ask Mark Rober one question, what would it be?
• 3:17
  First one I wasn't quite sure about.
• 3:19
  He wanted to know if you'd be interested in building him a 4 Wheeler.
• 3:22
  I went actually back and said, okay, if we're going to add a science lens to it, what would it be?
• 3:28
  He said, do you think that you could ever get an elephant to go to space?
• 3:32
  Oh, that's interesting.
• 3:34
  That was, that's the question?
• 3:35
  That's the question.
• 3:36
  I mean, it would be very expensive.
• 3:39
  The thing with space is like every extra pound, it just takes a lot of energy to get it up.
• 3:44
  So it's something like, at some point it's like $100,000 a pound.
• 3:48
  So an elephant is got to be like what? Like 8,000 pounds maybe?
• 3:54
  So that's an expensive it's an expensive organism to send to space but entirely possible.
• 4:01
  All right. Cool. All right.
• 4:02
  So if we do some capital raising then maybe we can give you a call back about it.
• 4:06
  Awesome.
• 4:07
  I think it's just amazing as we talk about this connection to kids.
• 4:12
  And I know one of the projects you've been working in is Class, which is this free science curriculum.
• 4:18
  Can you tell me a bit about- Yeah, basically, we now have like 80 million subscribers on YouTube, and it's like science stuff. Right?
• 4:29
  And so it's the idea like somehow in that process I've learned how to hide the vegetables, basically make learning science, not just like learn it, but it's like exciting.
• 4:39
  And you want to do it.
• 4:39
  because on YouTube you choose to watch that.
• 4:42
  And like, I've somehow earned 18 billion views on science stuff, that's a lot of time is boring.
• 4:47
  So how do we take those tricks and then apply it to the classroom?
• 4:52
  Because there's a lot of good science curriculum out there.
• 4:55
  But those dear science curriculum writers never have had to earn a single view.
• 4:59
  I know how to hide the vegetables and make it fun.
• 5:01
  And so it's like teaming up with teachers and being like, how do we help you make the coolest curriculum?
• 5:07
  Because your kids know who I am and they enjoy the content.
• 5:10
  So how do we actually teach?
• 5:11
  So created this curriculum.
• 5:13
  It exceeds all the state science standards.
• 5:15
  It's going to cost us$60 million to make.
• 5:17
  It's going to take five years to do it.
• 5:20
  And then we're going to make it free forever for all teachers.
• 5:23
  I think it's incredible.
• 5:23
  It's so cool.
• 5:24
  I know it’s like career-wise it's the most important thing I will ever do, hands down.
• 5:29
  It's a week out of my month that I'm volunteering for the next four years, and so far the early results are like really really positive.
• 5:37
  Of course they are. I mean, as you say, you've already earned that credibility through YouTube and that viewership.
• 5:43
  So actually then having that in the classroom is phenomenal.
• 5:47
  I think it will make any teachers job so much easier because the kids are going to be excited about it.
• 5:52
  Yeah, and that's it.
• 5:53
  Anyone who's in science will tell you it’s 90% a motivation problem.
• 5:57
  Even if you have the best curriculum, if they're not excited about it, it's just really hard to make any progress.
• 6:04
  So we've solved the motivation gap.
• 6:06
  And so now it's just teaming up with the teachers.
• 6:08
  And you know they're the heroes of this story.
• 6:11
  And my message is like thank you so much for your service.
• 6:15
  Reinforcements are on the way.
• 6:16
  Teachers are hands down my favorite humans on the planet.
• 6:19
  What they do is so important.
• 6:22
  Preparing the next generation of big problem solvers and inspiring them.
• 6:26
  And so anything I can do to put my thumb on the scale and help them out, it's like we're in it.
• 6:31
  I love it, I love it, and I think that, I appreciate that you come from a background of engineering, and this is obviously what has propelled that.
• 6:37
  And we think about where we're going as far as this new digital era.
• 6:40
  Engineering is going to be so much more important to more kids than ever before.
• 6:46
  So being able to have that access is awesome.
• 6:48
  And so thinking about that, you obviously, you've spoken about this immeasurable success on YouTube, which has obviously propelled then into Netflix as well.
• 6:56
  But you started out as a NASA engineer, how did you transform?
• 7:01
  How did this all come about?
• 7:02
  Yeah, like I was., I mean, it's right.
• 7:04
  Like I don't, I never wanted to be a well known person.
• 7:09
  To this day I don't let people sing Happy Birthday to me in a room of ten people.
• 7:13
  Same. Hate it.
• 7:14
  Just the center of attention, it's like, kill me.
• 7:17
  This is why I'm awkward now.
• 7:18
  Yeah.
• 7:20
  But this is great.
• 7:20
  I'm comfortable with cameras.
• 7:22
  It’s like, you know, knowing that, being in front of people.
• 7:26
  So it's like, you know, I more.... I was at NASA.
• 7:29
  I worked there for a decade, working on the curiosity rover as an engineer and then Apple for five years.
• 7:34
  I didn’t quit my day job at Apple until I had like 10 million subscribers.
• 7:38
  So this is always just like a fun side hobby, right?
• 7:42
  But yeah, while I was in NASA, I made a Halloween costume, because I had this idea, what if I cut a hole in my shirt, and then taped an iPad to the front and an iPad the back?
• 7:51
  It had a hole in the back.
• 7:52
  If you do a FaceTime call, it would look like you have a hole in your body because the front camera would show on the back screen, if you waved your hand in front of your stomach.
• 8:02
  And people at my Halloween party thought it was cool.
• 8:04
  So I was like, oh, I should upload this to this new fangled platform called YouTube.
• 8:08
  This is 2011.
• 8:10
  And my life goal is to get on this tech blog called Gizmodo that I think is now defunct.
• 8:14
  And I uploaded it went kinda viral, a couple million views I got on Gizmodo, I needed new life goals.
• 8:22
  And I was like, I have more ideas.
• 8:24
  I had a whole notebook full of them.
• 8:26
  I should just upload more.
• 8:28
  And I've literally done one video a month since then for 15 years.
• 8:31
  That's awesome.
• 8:32
  -Yeah.
• 8:32
  -That is awesome.
• 8:33
  And that's it.
• 8:34
  This was long before you knew you could get famous or rich off YouTube.
• 8:38
  You just did it for the joy of sharing ideas.
• 8:41
  Sure.
• 8:42
  And you’re making technology sexy and actually people are not really realizing that that's there because they're being so greatly entertained.
• 8:49
  or it is seamless.
• 8:50
  And that's certainly one of the things that I think about in my career here at T-Mobile.
• 8:54
  Previously I worked in the car industries.
• 8:56
  How do you distill these sort of complex ideas or tech like just talking about technology generally into something that's digestible or interesting to people?
• 9:06
  Like you talk about with the kids being motivated, do you think that that's the best technology?
• 9:10
  That's like when technology is more probably at its best is when people don't know it's there or it's not working?
• 9:15
  For sure.
• 9:16
  Like if it's invisible, I think historically Apple has done, they're one of the companies that has pioneered this and made this a thing.
• 9:25
  And I think what you guys do at T-Mobile, when I compare you to other large telecom brands, that to me are just like boring, you guys, just the way you market and have a message if you have an opinion, and it's the same trick I use, by the way, which is you just have to evoke like a visceral experience in the person watching or seeing your content.
• 9:52
  And you don't reach someone by going through the brain.
• 9:56
  You reach them, you reach the brain you reach the brain by going through the heart.
• 9:59
  And I think with your guys’ maketing you just have a story and it's interesting, even your commercials are just like so much more exciting.
• 10:06
  Like what you guys do just in the marketplace is to me, it really stands out and I think you get results from it.
• 10:16
  People think I'm a good engineer, I'm an okay engineer, but I'm a pretty damn good storyteller.
• 10:21
  -Yeah.
• 10:21
  -And I think that's overlooked.
• 10:23
  A lot of people made videos about squirrels in their backyard and filmed them.
• 10:27
  But like, I did the same thing, but I made a Ninja Warrior obstacle course, and I set it up like they're stealing my bird seed.
• 10:33
  And so they have to earn this bird seed.
• 10:35
  And I named them, right?
• 10:37
  And it was a vi- you watch that and you feel things.
• 10:41
  You feel, you know, it's funny.
• 10:44
  You feel like vindication because you've had squirrels.
• 10:47
  You feel amazed.
• 10:48
  You feel blank.
• 10:49
  Right?
• 10:50
  And for something to be remarkable it has to be able to be remarked about.
• 10:54
  And I think that is, no matter what I'm doing, whether it's building a goalie robot that the best soccer player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, can't score on because it moves so fast.
• 11:05
  In a half a sentence.
• 11:06
  I can explain that, and you're like, whoa, that feels big.
• 11:09
  That's cool.
• 11:10
  And the robot’s not even that complicated.
• 11:12
  But like, how do you package that in a story that gets anyone from 7 years old, like your son, to someone who's 70, the whole family can watch this.
• 11:21
  Absolutely.
• 11:22
  I couldn't agree with you more.
• 11:23
  And I think that's one of the things one of the first marketing leaders that I worked for said,“Lucy, when we're talking about advertising, it always has to evoke goosebumps, tears or laughter.
• 11:35
  And if it's not doing any of them, then you're going to fail.” And so from a storytelling perspective, I couldn't agree with you more.
• 11:41
  I think emotion is such a great unlock.
• 11:44
  And that's one of the really exciting things about our new Live Translation technology that we've been working on.
• 11:50
  It’s not just, oh, we're putting AI into the network.
• 11:54
  It's actually how does this technology change people's lives?
• 11:57
  And how do we talk about that with people?
• 11:59
  And just starting to look at the unlock of what that means.
• 12:03
  It's not just about how we could make a different phone reservation, but it's about how family members who have never been able to communicate can now draw a connection.
• 12:11
  And so, just seeing the fact that technology is able to remove barriers as well, I think is really exciting.
• 12:20
  What would you say is probably the greatest advancement so far in technology as far as removing barriers?
• 12:25
  I just had this conversation with my partner where it's like, it's crazy I have this like piece of glass and metal in my pocket that I could pull out and use my thumbs to tap it, to touch it in a very specific way and literally have the correct answer to any question I could think of.
• 12:44
  It’s not just a Google search.
• 12:45
  The answer you can get from like an LLM on any topic, that's so specific to you, it's not just a general topic, but I can give it my situation and it can give me very accurate like a response back, is I think, a good example of removing a barrier.
• 13:01
  Even if it comes to like personal health, like I'm feeling a certain way and I ate this, and I typically have this.
• 13:09
  And it could give you...
• 13:10
  like what a barrier.
• 13:11
  You no longer have to have a concierge doctor, everyone has access to this all knowing oracle.
• 13:21
  And so now it becomes like curiosity becomes the game.
• 13:24
  Like what really matters is asking the right questions and being passionate about it because you have all the answers there.
• 13:31
  So like, talk about removing barriers, we used to have to go to the library as kids to get answers.
• 13:37
  Encarta 96 was a CD that I used to put in.
• 13:40
  Did you guys have Encarta?
• 13:41
  Yeah.
• 13:42
  We had that CD.
• 13:43
  We had we had the Encyclopedia Britannica up there.
• 13:47
  And you would have to go to a library to research a topic.
• 13:51
  And talk about removing barriers, technologies, like you can learn anything instantly.
• 13:57
  And what a world, right?
• 13:58
  Oh totally.
• 14:00
  But yeah, I think that is something that, I saw how you guys were talking about the Live Translation thing, and I 100% was like, good call with, like, families and grandkids to grandparents.
• 14:12
  And you know, what a lovely visceral, I have goosebumps, I'm going to remember this.
• 14:20
  It's going to feel impactful to me versus oh, you can call and you can get a reservation somewhere.
• 14:24
  Yeah. Absolutely.
• 14:25
  And like and it's not wrong.
• 14:27
  It's not like a trick or anything.
• 14:29
  You're just choosing, specific use cases that will feel really meaningful to people.
• 14:34
  Sure.
• 14:35
  You want to be a company that helps provide meaning for folks.
• 14:37
  Yeah, sure.
• 14:38
  Connection just changing a moment completely for people.
• 14:44
  We're thinking about our new segments, and a recurring theme we would like to be able to ask guests, this is a little bit cliched, but given we're at T-Mobile here today, what would you say was a text, a phone call, a DM, a connection that changed the trajectory of your career?
• 15:01
  That moment?
• 15:02
  I got, when I was on YouTube for like four years, I only had like 50,000 subscribers.
• 15:09
  And Jimmy Kimmel saw one of my videos.
• 15:12
  And normally producers get people on the show.
• 15:14
  But he, to this day he brags that he is the one who found me and he's like, we need to get this guy on the show.
• 15:23
  And so he got me on the show and I was like a You- like, nobody was doing that.
• 15:27
  And pretty soon, the producers were like, I think he really likes you.
• 15:32
  And I'm like, you say that to everyone.
• 15:33
  But by the fourth time I was on the show, I was like, I think he really does like me.
• 15:39
  And he texted me once when I was like, I think he does like- he's like, “You're a star.
• 15:43
  You may not realize it.” And he prides himself and he's actually very good at like plucking, finding people who are talented.
• 15:51
  And he still believes in me more than I believe in myself.
• 15:54
  And so like that, that sentence from him saying, you are a star at a time where it's like, I still don't even see it.
• 16:01
  But he hasn't, I mean, like, I don't think he's been wrong as history, like, you know and and so like that was one where I was like, whoa, it's a paradigm shift for me, To see myself in a way that someone else who, you respect, that has a lot of, who's good at this was like, whoa, that was a reframing moment for me.
• 16:23
  And I always remember reading that exact sentence on my phone and being like, damn.
• 16:27
  That's incredible.
• 16:28
  -Yeah.
• 16:28
  -Oh my goodness.
• 16:29
  And I think, I mean, when it comes to YouTube as well and some of the most successful people, it has been about finding talent in the same way that it has been about finding actors and other stars, having someone to actually back you and to be able to get there.
• 16:42
  So having Jimmy Kimmel is pretty frickin’ awesome.
• 16:45
  Good for you, I love that.
• 16:46
  Yeah, and now we're like, I'm calling him actually, right after this.
• 16:49
  On the way home, I have a call because we need to talk about something.
• 16:53
  We vacation with, our families vacation together.
• 16:55
  He's become a really solid mentor for me.
• 16:59
  And yeah, I don't know, it's just one of those things that it just happens and and yeah, it's just your own belief in yourself kind of changes.
• 17:07
  Sure. It kind of makes me think about trust.
• 17:09
  I mean, you were you were cynical or skeptical about it.
• 17:13
  I think the same is true around, technology and where we're going as well.
• 17:17
  And I, coming from the car industry, one of the things that I really struggled to trust was some of the technology going into cars.
• 17:24
  When we think about where we're going with Waymo and Tesla as an example, autonomous driving.
• 17:29
  But thinking about technology and the concept of of trust, what would you see as like the most important thing from an engineering perspective, to be able to earn people's trust.
• 17:40
  Like, what is the paradigm shift for people, today?
• 17:47
  Like, is it about it having to work seamlessly?
• 17:50
  Is it being proven over time?
• 17:53
  I think it as it comes to like, AI, robotics, take self-driving as an example, if they killed as many as a thousand in accidents, we wouldn't adopt it and it would feel way too risky.
• 18:07
  So there's a very high bar, I think, especially when it comes from like what humans and do and what we've, what we're used to, to switching over to autonomous systems or just like technology.
• 18:19
  So, that makes it hard.
• 18:20
  You have to not just be reliable 99% of the time.
• 18:24
  You have to be reliable 99.99999% of the time Even if a human's only reliable 98% of the time. Right?
• 18:32
  And I think that even applies, as a phone company, if you have, technology, take the I translation if it, if it, you know, if you ended up saying some really mean things to your grandma when you're trying to say nice things.
• 18:47
  Exactly.
• 18:48
  It only takes that happening once then you don't trust it and don't use it.
• 18:52
  Absolutely.
• 18:53
  The bar is very high to get that right.
• 18:56
  And it's really hard to earn that back.
• 19:00
  Or dropping a call, right?
• 19:02
  If it's like, oh man, I just keep dropping this call, even if it's a small percentage, it happens a little bit.
• 19:08
  Like, I'm relying on you.
• 19:09
  So I think the challenge with it is the bar is high and that's why you guys are here to like, know that and then hit it out of the park.
• 19:18
  Yeah. Consistency is key.
• 19:19
  -Yeah. Consistency.
• 19:19
  -Absolutely.
• 19:24
  AI is becoming a polarizing conversation for many, many, different reasons.
• 19:29
  And so thinking about this new world of a combination of human and machine, more so than than ever before.
• 19:37
  How do you see AI improving human experience as an example or human output?
• 19:42
  Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, first of all, this is just like a continuing trend, right?
• 19:48
  When I could still tell you the telephone numbers of Scott Glazier, Craig Hacker, Jeff Maser, all my friends growing up, I still have those memorized.
• 19:59
  I can barely tell you I my wife's number.
• 20:03
  And that's because the answer's just there and I don't have to use brain power to memorize it.
• 20:10
  And I don't know, that's such a bad thing, right?
• 20:12
  I remember someone asked, a CEO of a tech company, and I was there in the room, do you think it's bad that kids today can't use maps to navigate because you have Google Maps and things?
• 20:23
  And it’s like, guess what kids also can't do today?
• 20:27
  They can't look at animal droppings and find out like, and track an animal.
• 20:32
  Or navigate using the stars.
• 20:34
  And this has always been in history.
• 20:37
  If tools come along that exist, if a calculator exists, you don't need to know how to use a slide rule or do long division out to- Right? So that doesn't mean you stop thinking.
• 20:49
  That means you use your brainpower for new, more interesting or complicated problems.
• 20:55
  I think in a lot of ways, AI and technology coming along, that doesn't mean like humans are replaced, especially for at least in the next at some time horizon, you know?
• 21:09
  We have a ways here.
• 21:10
  And I think already you're seeing a lot of job rep- all of this apocalyptic, everyone's going to do their jobs.
• 21:15
  So far, none of that's coming to fruition.
• 21:18
  -No.
• 21:18
  -Right?
• 21:20
  Even though it seemed like it was obvious this would happen, that hasn't been the case at all.
• 21:24
  And I think what's happening is that we're just using these tools to do more complicated, cooler things.
• 21:30
  Yeah.
• 21:31
  I can certainly speak for the creator space, like how people are using them creatively to make more interesting things in a smaller time frame.
• 21:39
  And it's not, and I think it would be a long time before you can just say,“Hey AI, make a channel, make it interesting, do all of the things.” We're nowhere near that.
• 21:50
  And it still takes a tremendous, the difference is now it's democratized.
• 21:54
  And some brilliant kid who's 19 years old who's never been to film school, can sit down and learn so much and get so good, much better than, you know, Steven Spielberg could at that age.
• 22:07
  I think it's like empowering, especially for those who really want to change the world and have deep impact.
• 22:12
  Yeah, I agree with you.
• 22:13
  And I think hearing you talk about it from a creative perspective, I feel the same.
• 22:16
  And as we start to think more about our marketing and our content generation, it's been really exciting to see how designers been able to hone their craft, actually learn new skills, and develop content in new and really exciting ways.
• 22:30
  But also as a marketer, getting back to marketing rather than this busywork, this boring shit that we always do every day is actually being able to package that out, put it aside, give it to machine, because the human of me gets to get back to the marketing and hone the craft, which is super cool.
• 22:46
  Yeah, 100%.
• 22:46
  And even use it as like a thought partner.
• 22:48
  Something I- Love it from a thought partnership perspective.
• 22:51
  It's so. Good.
• 22:52
  Yeah, I will sometimes, embarrassingly, if I'm like, having trouble explaining a concept simply, I'm like, how would Mark Rober explain the quantum effect to an eighth grader?
• 23:05
  And then it's like, hey, radical kids, here’s the- First of all, I don't say that, AI.
• 23:11
  But the explanation it gives me afterwards, I'm like, that’s pretty good.
• 23:16
  I might tweak this or that, but like, that's great.
• 23:19
  And then I'm like, ooh, and what if this and it's like, that's true, but what if that.
• 23:23
  And then I arrive at something faster by going back and forth and better than I could have on my own.
• 23:28
  Totally.
• 23:29
  But like just having it do all the things you read, what it gives you, even giving it the prompt, it's definitely an interaction thing, and it's making my content better across the field.
• 23:39
  But there's no part of what I do that you can just hand over to an AI.
• 23:43
  I agree with you completely.
• 23:44
  I think there's always a need for the heart and the mind for sure, but it's such a good thought starter as well.
• 23:50
  I just think it gets you going.
• 23:51
  So if I’m thinking about what the radical guy could teach an Aussie girl about baseball, cricket is in my DNA, and when the team has been talking a lot about ABS, It sort of goes a little bit over my head.
• 24:03
  Conceptually, I understand it, but consider me as like an eighth grader needing to learn baseball.
• 24:08
  How would you explain in Mark Rober-ism, Radical Guy World what ABS truly is?
• 24:14
  Okay, here's the question I have for you.
• 24:16
  first of all, you're talking about the automatic balls and strikes system.
• 24:19
  So for calling, instead of an Ump, not instead of an Umpire, in addition to an Umpire, you have a system that can to the, like 5 millimeters, the length of an ice cream sprinkle.
• 24:30
  It can know accurately if it's a strike or a ball.
• 24:33
  Here's a question.
• 24:33
  Oh god.
• 24:34
  So, like, what the difference between a lion and, like, a deer You guys have deers in Australia?
• 24:40
  -No, I don't think we do.
• 24:40
  -Gazelles?
• 24:42
  But I have them in my backyard, so I know what a deer is.
• 24:44
  So deers, you know where their eyes are?
• 24:46
  Yep.
• 24:46
  They're on the side of their head.
• 24:47
  Whereas a lion, both of their eyes are on the front.
• 24:50
  Do you know why that is?
• 24:51
  No.
• 24:52
  So, if you're an animal of prey, something that gets predated on.
• 24:57
  You want eyes on both sides of your head so you have 360 degree vision, right?
• 25:01
  But what they don't have is stereoscopic vision.
• 25:04
  In other words, getting depth perception.
• 25:08
  Animals that hunt have two eyes on the front, because the difference between your left and right eye is enough that your brain does the calculation, and it shifts slightly from one eye to the other.
• 25:18
  If you close one eye and open the other and what that does, you could tell the really cool example of this.
• 25:23
  If you're lying under a tree, close one eye.
• 25:25
  Truly do this next time.
• 25:25
  It will blow your mind and you'll be so grateful you have two eyes.
• 25:29
  You're lying under a tree and you see all these leaves.
• 25:31
  If you close one eye and look at it for a little bit.
• 25:34
  You kind of lose what tree what leaf is close, what branch is close.
• 25:38
  It kind of all meshes together.
• 25:39
  It's literally two dimensional.
• 25:42
  And then you open your other eye instantly.
• 25:45
  You're just flooded with all this information in your brain about what leaf is close, what leaf is far.
• 25:49
  And if you're an animal that hunts, you need that.
• 25:51
  Because you're trying to figure out where to swipe your claw to, you know, get that bird or that that animal.
• 25:58
  So ABS has I think as much as like 12 cameras around the stadium.
• 26:03
  And it's basically taking that stereoscopic vision one eye, but instead there's 12 eyes.
• 26:08
  And by doing that, that's all.
• 26:10
  It's no radar, it's nothing.
• 26:12
  And looking at that ball from all those cameras, it's able to make a three dimensional map of where that ball is in x, y, z coordinates in 3D space.
• 26:20
  And to say we'll do that so accurately because it's a high resolution camera that it can tell if it's a ball or strike again, down to that 5 millimeters.
• 26:28
  So that's really it.
• 26:29
  You're just filming it from 12 high resolution cameras.
• 26:32
  And then instead of your brain in your head, there's a computer that's like a brain that takes all that information and can track the center of that ball that accurately.
• 26:41
  I am never going to watch baseball again without thinking about a deer and a tiger.
• 26:46
  And a lion.
• 26:48
  Or a lion, not a tiger.
• 26:49
  Same thing. Tiger/lion.
• 26:50
  It was me just thinking about Detroit because I was like, hang on.
• 26:52
  When I was in Detroit, it was about like, there's the Lions and the Tigers, and now I'm like, completely off.
• 26:57
  No, the Tigers are the baseball team.
• 26:58
  Tigers are the baseball.
• 26:59
  The Lions are football.
• 27:00
  Detroit. Yeah.
• 27:01
  And I was always like really confused as to why the hockey team wasn't called the Bears.
• 27:06
  Because lions and tiger and bears. Oh my! Like I was just getting Wizard of Oz vibes the whole time.
• 27:10
  But I'm never, ever going to watch that again without having that.
• 27:14
  You need to promise me this, anyone listen to me, promise this.
• 27:17
  You will never be so grateful you have two eyes.
• 27:19
  And this will be the trick, next time you're just lying under a tree.
• 27:21
  You see a tree in the distance.
• 27:23
  Close one eye.
• 27:24
  Look at it for like five seconds.
• 27:25
  Try and see what leaf is close and far and then open your second one.
• 27:28
  And it just feels like you’re just flooded with this brilliant No doubt.
• 27:33
  And that’s it.
• 27:33
  That's all it's doing with instead of one camera that's 12.
• 27:36
  And then it can track it.
• 27:37
  And it's really interesting because, why do you have Umpires, if you can call it so much more accurately in real time, thanks to T-Mobile's 5G, by the way.
• 27:47
  I think you still need the humans on the field to manage the the peace.
• 27:50
  But obviously having the technology is only going to enhance what they're able to see and creates a whole other dynamic to the game.
• 27:57
  Yeah, I think that's right.
• 27:58
  but I think there's something to tradition and there's like a human element and there's something about a human making the call.
• 28:05
  And if it's wrong and they challenge it then it overturns it.
• 28:09
  I feel like that adds flavor to the game.
• 28:11
  Like, for example, the phone, the worst phone in someone's pocket, the chess program on that will be Magnus Carlsen, the best player in the world by a lot.
• 28:23
  It doesn't take like computers are way better at chess now.
• 28:26
  Chess has never been more popular and no one's watching two computers play chess.
• 28:30
  You want to see two humans do it like our own kind Absolutely.
• 28:33
  who are fallible and they're human and there's something relatable.
• 28:36
  You could send a drone to the top of Mount Everest.
• 28:38
  That's not inspiring.
• 28:39
  Again, back to what you were talking about in the beginning, it has to give you goosebumps.
• 28:43
  It has to make you smile and laugh.
• 28:45
  You have to feel it in your heart for you to care in your brain.
• 28:47
  Sure.
• 28:47
  And I think there's an element to that with Umpires in baseball.
• 28:50
  I kind of like where it's landed, where it's this combination.
• 28:54
  It's the human element.
• 28:55
  It's almost exciting when they might get it wrong.
• 28:58
  Agreed.
• 28:59
  And then they get it right. Yeah.
• 29:00
  And the AI or you know, the system tells you they were right and the players thought they were wrong.
• 29:04
  -It's like-Exactly.
• 29:05
  But then hearing the roar of the crowd as well, like both sides of the fence, has actually been really cool.
• 29:10
  That's what one of the things that has been really exciting for us is seeing how it’s completely enhanced fans’ experiences watching baseball as well.
• 29:18
  And I think as well, from a game perspective, I think 6000 challenges so far and over 50% of them have been overturned.
• 29:25
  So you’re kind of getting it on both sides.
• 29:28
  -But it's great to see.
• 29:28
  -Totally.
• 29:29
  But I also love that half of them weren’t overturned, meaning the Ump got the call wrong.
• 29:34
  And guess what?
• 29:35
  Before T-Mobile came along, those fans would have gone home and it would be like, that ump made the worst call.
• 29:41
  Yeah.
• 29:42
  And they're blaming on the Ump.
• 29:43
  But now it's like, hey, you got the final word.
• 29:46
  Come up with another excuse.
• 29:47
  Yeah.
• 29:47
  But it wasn't that Ump.
• 29:48
  Yeah, absolutely right.
• 29:50
  Your player should have swung.
• 29:51
  Oh, man. It's so cool though.
• 29:53
  It's so, so cool.
• 29:53
  I love that's so fun.
• 29:54
  That's so much like, that's flavor.
• 29:56
  I agree with you.
• 29:57
  I agree with you completely.
• 30:03
  Thinking about how we make things better, I know that one of your core values has been around obviously education, but also philanthropy, and you've gotten so big.
• 30:13
  And obviously a good mate of yours, MrBeast, as well, has jumped in on this.
• 30:16
  Can you talk a little bit about making people's lives better and giving back?
• 30:21
  I think paying it forward is certainly core to what you do and we love that about you.
• 30:26
  I think, Jimmy, MrBeast and I when he originally got 20 million subscribers, we did TeamTrees, which is Raise $20 million, plant 20 million trees, a dollar a tree.
• 30:38
  Then TeamSeas.
• 30:40
  So $30 million to remove 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean.
• 30:44
  And then eventually TeamWater, which was $40 million to give 2 million people clean drinking water for decades.
• 30:50
  And I think for both of us and not just us, but all of our creator friends, we realized that like, if we tap a mic, we can get 50 million people to listen.
• 31:06
  Especially like young folk who, the clay hasn't hardened yet.
• 31:10
  And so there's sort of a responsibility that comes with that.
• 31:15
  It's like, yeah, you can, make a fun video about squirrels in your backyard.
• 31:20
  But also it's like if you have the opportunity to help shape the next generation of, you know, again, problem solvers in the world , like, you can't ignore that.
• 31:32
  You have to do something.
• 31:33
  So once a year I try and do a video or even twice of like how technology is making the world better and highlighting engineers doing cool stuff.
• 31:40
  And those were part of them.
• 31:42
  And it's just cool to see between those three, we’re just shy of raising $100 million.
• 31:49
  That’s incredible.
• 31:50
  For projects around the world.
• 31:51
  Good for you.
• 31:51
  I mean, good for our friends, good for the kids who donated.
• 31:55
  And the median donation, by the way, and this is the cool part, is like $4.
• 31:58
  Oh, that's. Amazing.
• 31:59
  And that means that’s tooth fairy money.
• 32:01
  That's bake sale money.
• 32:02
  Yeah.
• 32:02
  That's kids being like, oh, I want to- Literally, if they wouldn't have donated, done the bake sale, got $4.
• 32:10
  That's four less trees that would exist in the world.
• 32:13
  They literally, four new trees exist because of them.
• 32:16
  Or four fewer pounds of trash are in the ocean, right?
• 32:19
  It's amazing.
• 32:20
  Or that $20, someone literally will get clean drinking water for decades.
• 32:24
  And that wouldn't have happened without them.
• 32:26
  I love it, but it's also amazing to have parents backing their kids and those conversations happening and then being able to enable it as well.
• 32:33
  -Yeah.
• 32:33
  -I absolutely love it.
• 32:34
  It's one of the things, as well here, that we're fiercely passionate about.
• 32:37
  We started a project called Project 10Million many years ago, which is about closing the digital divide and giving underserved communities and kids access to to the internet, because they're in homes that can't afford it.
• 32:48
  And we also know that's an enabler to education that we've spoken about.
• 32:51
  I just love the fact that you're doing that as well and inspiring good, positive thinking and intent, as well as the education piece behind your audiences too, and seeing that impact because you've got the tangible outcome with the donations is just remarkable.
• 33:06
  Yeah. I think it's almost like every company has a research arm.
• 33:09
  I think you guys, as a very large successful company also have like a responsibility to give back in some way.
• 33:17
  Especially if it aligns with what your core competencies are.
• 33:20
  So I think in the same way that myself and MrBeast and all of our other creative friends felt that, I think it's encouraging that you guys, as a large company, feel the same way and are doing the same thing.
• 33:31
  Yeah, it's a must do, that's for sure.
• 33:32
  Yeah.
• 33:36
  Thinking about doing good things and the future, one of the other things that we wanted to ask you about was if you had a crystal ball, and thinking that you've hit it out of the park so far thinking about technology.
• 33:50
  What would you think could be the biggest technological innovation of the next ten years, I think a lot of times what happens is you have kind of hardware and software cycles.
• 34:03
  It started with the personal computer as a hardware innovation.
• 34:06
  Then you got a software innovation which was the internet, then you got hardware innovation, which was smart phones, and then it kind of like stagnated for a long time.
• 34:14
  It's like, okay, you just have a bunch of apps.
• 34:15
  The phones don't look that different year to year.
• 34:17
  And then you had a software innovation, which was AI.
• 34:20
  And so what's the next leap like what’s the next hardware innovation.
• 34:26
  I think is robotics.
• 34:27
  So, you know, the AIs still need us to push buttons, and like I think, if you think about, I think you're going to see like the robotics revolution.
• 34:38
  Robotics coming around and making our lives much better, self-driving cars as an example.
• 34:44
  But even in, a lot of, I'm friends with, RJ, the CEO of Rivian, Hmhmm.
• 34:52
  turnover is really high in their factories.
• 34:54
  It's hard work.
• 34:55
  It’s really hard work.
• 34:56
  That’s really difficult on humans bodies. Right?
• 34:58
  And it's like, okay, let's let robots do some of that stuff and take those same people and have them doing other stuff with their brains.
• 35:05
  That makes us more special.
• 35:06
  Like we're better at doing stuff with our brains.
• 35:08
  Yep.
• 35:09
  So, I think you'll see, I think robots in a lot of different forms, whatever that means, will be, as much as we're talking about AI now, I think in five years we'll be talking about robotics and robots.
• 35:22
  Yeah. So we're thinking about, like a robot lifting a tire and putting it on to the rim of a car, for example?
• 35:29
  Yeah, but also like, eventually doing the laundry around your house.
• 35:35
  And that same robot can help give your grandma the massage that helps with like her arthritis but also cook the breakfast.
• 35:44
  You know?
• 35:46
  God. I love the idea of this.
• 35:49
  This is excellent.
• 35:50
  You had me at massage.
• 35:51
  And we have like and then it's more, time to be spending with your family and to be doing things that a robot can’t do.
• 36:00
  And an AI can't do. Right?
• 36:02
  And, if you look at us versus the industrial revolution and stuff the amount of free time we have in a day is insanely high.
• 36:09
  Where even if you look at even the cost of how much, how many hours of working does it take to get a meal?
• 36:17
  It takes much fewer hours working to get your basic needs met today than in the Industrial Revolution, or even going back before that.
• 36:24
  And so I think that trend will continue.
• 36:26
  And hopefully that allows us lives where we can spend it doing more meaningful things with the people that we care about.
• 36:34
  Sure.
• 36:35
  Even technology is an enabler or that.
• 36:37
  Just like the AI translation thing that you guys are doing.
• 36:40
  That will allow families and friends to connect.
• 36:48
  I spent some time in Japan when I was in my early 20s.
• 36:52
  And my Japanese is not as good as it used to be.
• 36:55
  And I went back there recently.
• 36:57
  I would love to talk to some of my old friends and have a more free flowing conversation.
• 37:03
  And I will, here, as soon as I get this feature on my phone.
• 37:06
  Yeah, yeah, I know, it'll be amazing.
• 37:07
  From that perspective, I couldn't agree more.
• 37:10
  It is truly amazing to think about the fact that we might be able to get all these hours back in life and have greater instant gratification.
• 37:16
  Certainly, I have that now with my shopping, the grocery shopping.
• 37:19
  It absolutely always tells me how many hours I saved not going to the grocery store.
• 37:23
  But just thinking about how that might happen not only in the workplace but in people's lives as well.
• 37:28
  And it not being so polarizing and actually a positive that people want to embrace and adopt.
• 37:33
  Because that was the other thing that I've been thinking about is, given there is this sort of resistance and this polarizing conversation, how do we get people to want to embrace it?
• 37:41
  Like what needs to happen for people?
• 37:43
  I think I needs a big W, if it could cure Alzheimer's or like it’s going to do something, a big breakthrough medically.
• 37:52
  I think it needs to just show that it's a net positive.
• 37:55
  And already I think the negativity around jobs is already showing that we were pretty bad at predicting that.
• 38:02
  This is pretty much across every, most industries, it's seeming like, oh, everyone was wrong about this.
• 38:11
  And I think that helps because the huge con in that category, we thought it's going to take all of our jobs hasn't really materialized.
• 38:17
  Then it's like, okay, what can it do beneficial for us?
• 38:20
  And look, that's not that It's like some we shouldn't have a Pollyanna attitude about it, you know?
• 38:25
  Just literally this morning I was reading about how an AI hacked into another company because someone was being irresponsible for it.
• 38:34
  So it's like, all right, well, we just gotta use AI to strengthen all the companies and make sure we're very cyber secure.
• 38:40
  Yeah.
• 38:41
  So, you know, technology isn't new.
• 38:45
  It goes back to the Roman Empire, right?
• 38:47
  And I would argue it's almost amoral, so it just comes down to humans using it in a way that is moral and beneficial.
• 38:54
  Sure. So going back full circle because I'm just curious, thinking about doing things for good and thinking about all the incredible content and projects that you've worked on, the stuff that's made you famous.
• 39:06
  What would you say is your proudest moment from a content perspective or something that had impact beyond your wildest dreams?
• 39:15
  I think, I just gave a TED talk on class Crunch Labs and explaining what it is.
• 39:20
  And I really feel like everything I have done, including at NASA, including at Apple, all the videos, really has led to this moment and given me the training needed to partner up with teachers and make this thing.
• 39:34
  Granted, it's not done yet.
• 39:36
  We're now 5 of the 40 lessons are available for free on ClassCrunchLabs.org.
• 39:46
  We're already working on number 10 out of 40 so it's well underway.
• 39:50
  And early independent results from like independent companies that test this stuff is like, there's nothing like this.
• 39:57
  Yeah.
• 39:57
  And by the way, it's free.
• 39:59
  So it's like we're five times better than anything else out there and it's free, whereas the other stuff costs a lot of money.
• 40:05
  These poor teachers who don't have money to spend on things like this.
• 40:09
  I think that is the thing I will look back on and just be like, so proud and happy that my team, we just hit this head on and like we're just going, we're working so hard on this thing, and then we're just going to make it, free for these teachers that deserve it is like, I'm just really proud of that.
• 40:29
  Yeah, you should be.
• 40:29
  I think it's incredible.
• 40:31
  And yeah.
• 40:32
  Congratulations.
• 40:33
  Honestly, it's admirable.
• 40:35
  It's what people need.
• 40:36
  And you know, science is so much more in our future than most people really think about.
• 40:41
  and the combination of science and education, I think is super important.
• 40:46
  Yeah. And like a big part of it is just like, lighting these curiosity fires in this next generation.
• 40:53
  Because when you have these AIs and these tools, so much, it comes down to like, what is, what are you curious about?
• 40:59
  What is exciting and interesting to you?
• 41:00
  Because you can learn it.
• 41:02
  Absolutely.
• 41:02
  And then you can have giant, enormous impact.
• 41:05
  So it's a a huge undertaking, what we're doing, but it feels like it's work worth doing.
• 41:10
  And what is life except working hard at work worth doing.
• 41:13
  Yeah.
• 41:13
  Is your insight that there isn't enough curiosity or is it that you think this’ll enhance it?
• 41:18
  I think when you can just hook yourself up to an algorithm and you say, I'm going to swipe up and you just feed me the next bit of dopamine that should go to my brain.
• 41:27
  I think that is inherently...
• 41:30
  curiosity is sort of pulled out of that loop.
• 41:32
  Yeah.
• 41:33
  And so, yeah, I don't know if it's- It's hard to say if it’s we're less curious.
• 41:39
  We certainly have less down time where we were bored as kids.
• 41:43
  And like, that's sometimes where curiosity and creativity flourish is in the blank spots where you're not being inundated with stuff to your brain.
• 41:53
  And that's certainly lower.
• 41:55
  And so I think, today's like the tools we have at our disposal, it is so advantageous to a curious brain.
• 42:06
  Curiosity becomes even more and more important as every year goes on, moving forward.
• 42:11
  Because those who are curious, and who want the answers, and are just hungry for that, and who've had that fire ignite in their brains, those are the ones that are going to change the world.
• 42:21
  I love that, I think that's a great way to end.
• 42:23
  I have to say thank you so much for joining us.
• 42:25
  It is really fun.
• 42:26
  And, I think the biggest takeaways for me are thinking about distilling complex ideas down to simple, digestible concepts.
• 42:34
  The power of education, the power of curiosity, and this ultimate combination of human and machine for better of the world.
• 42:42
  I think it will be an amazing future ahead.
• 42:44
  Thank you for having me.
• 42:45
  -This is great.
• 42:45
  -Thanks, Mate. Appreciate it.
• 42:47
  -Cheers. Thank you.
• 42:47
  -Cheers!