Counting Sand

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**Counting Sand**

Counting Sand, the podcast that tackles the hard problem of how to make meaning of all the data available today. Introducing the themes at the heart of big data, high performance, and computer science, the show highlights the most cutting-edge applications. Whether discussing the best designs for a complex data system or the social implications of bringing a diverse skillset to data science, each new episode will provide research-backed perspectives on today’s hardest problems.

Latest Episodes:

Advancing Health Equity: Technology, Patient Advocacy, and AI in Healthcare Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

Key Topics Discussed:

Introduction to Health Strategy:

Definition and components of health strategy.
The role of technology and policy in achieving health-related outcomes.

Health Equity Strategy:

Importance of considering social identities in healthcare.
Efforts by organizations like CMS, NCQA, and the Joint Commission to measure and address health disparities.
The necessity of stratifying data by race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Patient Education and Advocacy:

Strategies to educate and involve patients in their own care.
The role of organizations like Healthwise (now part of WebMD Ignite) in patient education.

The Role of AI in Healthcare:

Success stories and challenges, including Johns Hopkins' sepsis prediction model and IBM Watson's issues with cancer treatment recommendations.
Ethical considerations and the need for patient and consumer advocate involvement in AI development.

Integrating Social Determinants of Health:

The impact of social determinants on health outcomes.
The role of healthcare organizations in addressing social needs like housing, transportation, and food insecurity.

Future Directions and Ethical AI:

The importance of including diverse perspectives in AI development.
Potential solutions to bridge the technology gap in social care services.

Key Quotes:

Dave Foster: "Organizations can't just submit their average scores for quality measures; they have to start looking at the data, stratifying it by social identity characteristics."
Angelo Kastroulis: "Being able to put AI in its proper place is critically important. We need to understand and mitigate its potential biases."

Resources Mentioned:

Healthwise (now part of WebMD Ignite)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
Johns Hopkins Sepsis Prediction Model
IBM Watson in Healthcare

Action Items for Listeners:

Subscribe: Follow Counting Sand on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow: Connect with Angelo Kastroulis on Twitter @AngeloKastr and LinkedIn at AngeloK1.
Connect: Reach out to Dave Foster on LinkedIn at DaveFoster.

Final Thoughts:

The episode emphasizes the critical role of technology and patient advocacy in advancing health equity. By incorporating diverse perspectives and ethical considerations into AI development, the healthcare system can better address disparities and improve outcomes for all patients.

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Part 2: Building the Future: How AI and Advanced Technologies Are Shaping Modern Construction May 21, 2024

Show notes

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelok1/

https://twitter.com/AngeloKastr

www.hermes-nexus.com

www.carrera.io

Guest: Mykola (Myk) Murashko

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mykola-murashko-041b47156/

https://www.maestro-tech.com/

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Building the Future: How AI and Advanced Technologies Are Shaping Modern Construction, Pt. 1 May 07, 2024

Show notes

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelok1/

https://twitter.com/AngeloKastr

www.hermes-nexus.com

www.carrera.io

Guest: Mykola (Myk) Murashko

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mykola-murashko-041b47156/

https://www.maestro-tech.com/

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

HIMSS24: Value-Based Care, Health Equity, and AI Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

Takeaways

Value-based care shifts the focus from the fee-for-service model to improving patient outcomes.
Data and analytics are crucial in understanding performance and identifying areas for improvement in healthcare.
Ambient data, including social determinants of health, can provide valuable insights for improving patient care.
Artificial intelligence can be used to enhance healthcare efficiency and effectiveness.
Trust and transparency are essential in the use of AI in healthcare.

Sound Bites

"In a value-based model, if we do better, you get paid more, there's more profit."
"Value-based care enables providers to address social determinants of health that were previously off-limits."
"There's ambient signal out there that's happening around the visit."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview

06:31 The Role of Data and Analytics in Healthcare

13:59 The Importance of Trust and Transparency in AI in Healthcare

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

AI Hot Sauce Taste Test Challenge Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

Key Topics

AI-optimized vs Commercially Available Hot Sauce: Angelo and Petter perform a blind taste test with three different hot sauces, one of which is AI-optimized, to see if they can determine which one is created by AI.

Background of the AI Hot Sauce Creators: A brief insight into the story of Shekeib and Shohaib, the two brothers who combined their passion for data science and business to create an AI-optimized hot sauce.

Understanding Bayesian Optimization: A comprehensive discussion on Bayesian Optimization, a technique that uses previous knowledge to influence future decisions, perfect for creating unique hot sauce recipes.

Discussion on Other Optimization Techniques: Petter invites Angelo to delve into the different types of optimization algorithms and their pros and cons.

Understanding Gradient Descent: Angelo gives a brief introduction to the concept of Gradient Descent, a popular optimization algorithm, explaining it as akin to finding a valley when on a mountain.

Recommendations

Check out the previous episode interviewing the creators of the AI-optimized hot sauce to understand their process better.
For tech enthusiasts interested in AI and its applications, further exploration into optimization techniques like Bayesian Optimization and Gradient Descent can be insightful.

Episode Quotes

"Hot sauces are part of my favorite start of the day, so it'd be interesting to see what AI could come up with here." - Petter Graff

"Bayesian is an optimization technique that centers around using your previous knowledge to influence the future and that works really well." - Angelo Kastroulis

"Bayesian can kind of skip a bunch of steps because you've got a better second try." - Angelo Kastroulis

"The algorithm of gradient descent basically goes like this. If you're trying to find from where you are to where you should go, imagine that you're on a mountain trying to find the valley." - Angelo Kastroulis

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

AI Hot Sauce Brothers Part 2 Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

Introduction:

Angelo and Shohaib discuss the inclusion of new ingredients in hot sauce batches.
Shohaib explains the process of introducing new ingredients and the excitement surrounding it.

Incorporating New Ingredients:

Angelo asks about the approach to incorporating new ingredients: creating new models or expanding the feature space.
Shohaib suggests keeping the base model and increasing the search space for new ingredients.
Both options are considered, including transferring the optimal features to another model.

Metaphorical Understanding:

Angelo highlights the advantage of using hot sauce as a metaphor for complex concepts.
Shekeib acknowledges the clarity provided by the hot sauce analogy and the opportunity to learn more.

Engaging with Mathematics:

Angelo expresses his enthusiasm for discussing the mathematical side of AI.
Shekeib shares his brother's interest in math and how it goes beyond his own understanding.
Shohaib emphasizes the subset of AI concepts being discussed and the value of conceptualizing them through hot sauce.

AI as an Expansive Field:

Angelo mentions that AI encompasses various subfields, such as machine learning, Bayesian optimization, and active learning.
Neural networks, deep learning, and reinforcement learning are discussed as additional branches of AI.
Shohaib highlights the similarities between Bayesian optimization and reinforcement learning.

Reinforcement Learning:

Angelo mentions the significance of reinforcement learning in solving video games and its applicability to different domains.
Shohaib shares his experience with reinforcement learning in an AI class, specifically using it to make Pac-Man play autonomously.

Specialization and Continuous Learning:

Angelo praises Shohaib's expertise in Bayesian optimization while acknowledging the vastness of AI knowledge.
The discussion emphasizes the complexity of AI and the continuous learning required to stay up to date.

Generative Pre-trained Transformers:

Angelo brings up the popularity of generative pre-trained transformers like ChatGPT.
The ensemble nature of these models and their unique combination of techniques is highlighted.

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

AI Hot Sauce Brothers - Part 1 Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Introduction

Shekeib and Shohaib join the podcast as guests to talk about their experience with creating hot sauces using AI optimization.
They created a special hot sauce, named "Counting Sauce," specifically for the podcast hosts.

The Making of Counting Sauce

This is a unique hot sauce that includes pineapple and mango flavors.
The sauce was created as a token of appreciation for being featured on the podcast.

Journey through Different Versions of the Sauce

The hosts have tried versions 19, 20, 21, and they just received version 25.
There will be a blind taste test to determine if they can tell the difference between the different iterations and compare them with other sauces to tell which is AI-created.

Optimization Process

The process involves optimizing the amount of each ingredient.
They use a Gaussian process regression model and an acquisition function called Expected Improvement for the optimization.

Choice of Ingredients

The base hot sauce has five main ingredients: vinegar, pepper, jalapeno, and lime.
After 25 iterations, the differences in taste become so minute it becomes hard to tell the difference.

Subjective Taste Testing

Shekeib talks about how his taste tolerance changes after tasting hot sauces all day.
They involved family and friends in the tasting process and asked for ratings on a scale of one to ten.

The Learning Curve of the AI

Early on, the AI would try extreme variations like too much or too little salt.
It learned quickly from feedback and adjusted accordingly.

Strength of Bayesian Optimization

The AI can learn mathematically from feedback and apply the learnings, making the optimization process quicker and more efficient.
It was also able to tweak multiple ingredients simultaneously, unlike a human who might focus on one ingredient at a time.

No Prior Experience in Hot Sauce Making

Both brothers had no prior experience or generational knowledge in hot sauce making.
The AI managed to create a decent hot sauce in just five iterations.

Power of Bayesian Optimization with Human Expertise

The brothers emphasize the importance of having a human expert in the loop of Bayesian optimization.
The AI simulates the intuition and experience of a human expert, but having a real human guide the process further enhances the results.

Application Beyond Hot Sauce

They discuss the potential of their Bayesian optimization process in other areas such as drug discovery.
The process can be guided by human experts in the respective fields for even better results.

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Bonus: Season 2 Recap Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

In a time crunch? Check out the time stamps below:

[00:45] - Moore's Law, where do we go from here?

[03:00] - How do we improve data system efficiency?

[10:30] - Purpose-built systems (FPGAs)

[11:13] - Insights on (FPGAs)

[13:32] - Event Streaming

[17:50] - Data storage

[18:34] - Google’s approach to data storage

[19:00] - Downtime

[21:06] - Serves impact on environment and solutions to optimize

[23:00] - Improving data systems, machine learning, artificial intelligence

[24:06] - How do we regulate AI?

[26:10] - Benefits of simulations through machine learning

[28:38] - The impact computer science has on astrophysics

[31:09] - How do we defy Moore's Law, the future of quantum computing

Our Team:

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

The End of Moore's Law Part 2 Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

The last time we had Manos on the program, we talked about Moore's Law coming to an end. It's important to note that we can't rely on just sheer computing power doubling to be able to meet our ever-increasing demand for data. We must find new and exciting ways to collect and compute large amounts of data. In this episode of Counting Sand, we will dive deep into what does a database actually do? What is at the core of a data system? Most importantly, how can we use new and exciting techniques to free up the CPU's load by algorithmic trickery.

In a time crunch? Check out the time stamps below:

[00:53] - Guest Intro

[01:30] - Intro to data systems

[03:00] - Hardware types

[05:00] - Why is it important to choose the right format

[10:15] - What is column storage, and what the benefits

[16:30] - Injecting the CPU, The hierarchy of memory

[20:00] - Why not just duplicate data

[22:55] - Acid properties

Notable references:

Relational Memory: Native In-Memory Accesses on Rows and Columns

Our Team:

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Dynamo: The Research Paper that Changed the World Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

The cycle between research and application is often too long and can take decades to complete. It is often asked what bit of research or technology is the most important? Before we can answer that question, I think it's important to take a step back and share the story of why we believe The Dynamo Paper is so essential to our modern world and how we encountered it.

Citations:

DeCandia, G., Hastorun, D., Jampani, M., Kakulapati, G., Lakshman, A., Pilchin, A., ... & Vogels, W. (2007). Dynamo: Amazon’s highly available key-value store. ACM SIGOPS operating systems review, 41(6), 205-220.Karger, D., Lehman, E., Leighton, T., Panigrahy, R., Levine, M., & Lewin, D. (1997, May). Consistent hashing and random trees: Distributed caching protocols for relieving hot spots on the world wide web. In Proceedings of the twenty-ninth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing (pp. 654-663).Lamport, L. (2019). Time, clocks, and the ordering of events in a distributed system. In Concurrency: the Works of Leslie Lamport (pp. 179-196).Merkle, R. C. (1987). A digital signature based on conventional encryption. In Proceedings of the USENIX Secur. Symp (pp. 369-378).

Our Team:

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson

Music: All Things Grow by Oliver Worth

Host: Angelo Kastroulis

Executive Producer: Náture Kastroulis

Producer: Albert Perrotta

Communications Strategist: Albert Perrotta

Video/Audio Engineer: Ryan Thompson