Is locking down powerful AI in the hands of a few companies a risk we can't afford to take? In this episode, we're joined by open-source visionary Mike Bird to explore why the future of humanity might depend on open-source AI. We dive deep into the strategic advantages of building in the open, how to decide what parts of your business to open-source, and the practical tools and frameworks that can help developers and companies thrive.

Guest: Mike Bird, open-source advocate, contributor to Open Interpreter, AI & Engineering Lead at BoxOne Ventures and host of the Tool Use YouTube channel.

Our guest:

X: https://x.com/MikeBirdTech

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikebirdtech/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MikeBirdTech

What You'll Hear About:

The Philosophical Debate: Why centralizing AI in a few corporations is a high-risk scenario for humanity.
Strategic Open-Sourcing: How companies can build trust and attract talent by strategically open-sourcing parts of their tech stack without losing their competitive edge.
Practical AI Workflows: Three game-changing use cases for AI in your daily life, including voice transcription, building tool generators, and leveraging code assistants like Cursor.
The Future of AI Agents: Will open-source or closed-source frameworks dominate the next wave of AI agent technology?

Security in the Open: How to navigate the risks of open-source, from malicious actors to ensuring the safety of tools like MCP servers with projects like ToolHive.

Key insights:

Open-sourcing parts of your software is a powerful way to build trust in an age of increasing digital skepticism.
You don't have to open-source your core product. Contributing to the libraries and tools your business relies on is a valuable way to participate.
The argument against open-source AI often ignores the second-order effect: concentrating power in a few opaque organizations is a greater long-term risk.
Use AI tools like Cursor not just for development, but as a learning tool to understand complex codebases and make meaningful contributions.

The most important skills in the age of AI are curiosity, agency, and taste. Learn to experiment, act on your ideas, and develop a sense for quality user experience.

Tools Mentioned:

Open Interpreter: An open-source project for running code on your computer https://github.com/openinterpreter/open-interpreter .
Cursor: An AI-powered code editor.
Cal.com: An open-source scheduling alternative to Calendly.
AgentStack: A tool for tracing and building reliable AI systems https://github.com/AgentOps-AI/AgentStack.
Bitwarden: An open-source password manager.
Superwhisper / Whisperfile: Voice transcription tools https://github.com/cjpais/whisperfile.
Obsidian: A note-taking app that works on local Markdown files.
ToolHive: A project for secure secret management with MCP servers.

Augment Toolkit & Transformer Lab: Tools for creating fine-tuned models https://github.com/e-p-armstrong/augmentoolkit https://transformerlab.ai/.

Chapters

00:00 The High-Stakes Future of Open-Source AI
01:15 Mike Bird's Journey into the AI Ecosystem
03:55 Why Open-Source is a Public Good for Humanity
05:30 Building Trust: How Companies Can Benefit from Open-Source
07:15 What to Open Source (And What to Keep Proprietary)
11:19 The Philosophical Argument: Is Open-Source AI a Necessity?
15:01 Open-Source vs. Closed-Source as a Societal Choice
17:35 Why Did OpenAI Abandon Its Open-Source Roots?
22:47 The Future of AI Agents: Who Will Win?
28:25 Mike's Top 3 AI Use Cases for Daily Productivity
30:10 Building a Tool That Builds More Tools
33:26 Navigating Security with MCP Servers and ToolHive
36:06 Final Principles: Stay Curious, Keep Humans in the Loop, and Develop Good Taste

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Website: pod.elinalesyk.com
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Why Your Next AI Project Should Be Open-Source | Mike Bird

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Show Notes

Transcript