Inside OpenAI | Logan Kilpatrick (head of developer relations)

Logan Kilpatrick leads developer relations at OpenAI, supporting developers building with the OpenAI API and ChatGPT. He is also on the board of directors at NumFOCUS, the nonprofit organization that supports open source projects like Jupyter, Pandas, NumPy, and more. Before OpenAI, Logan was a machine-learning engineer at Apple and advised NASA on open source policy. In our conversation, we discuss:
• OpenAI’s fast-paced and innovative work environment
• The value of high agency and high urgency in your employees
• Tips for writing better ChatGPT prompts
• How the GPT Store is doing
• OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria
• Where OpenAI is heading in the next few years
• Insight into OpenAI’s B2B offerings
• Why Logan “measures in hundreds”
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Find the transcript and references at: www.lennyspodcast.com/inside-...
Where to find Logan Kilpatrick:
• X: / officiallogank
• LinkedIn: / logankilpatrick
• Website: logank.ai/
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Logan’s background
(03:49) The impact of recent events on OpenAI’s team and culture
(08:20) Exciting developments in AI interfaces
(09:52) Using OpenAI tools to make companies more efficient
(13:04) Examples of using AI effectively
(18:35) Prompt engineering
(22:12) How to write better prompts
(26:05) The launch of GPTs and the OpenAI Store
(32:10) The importance of high agency and urgency
(34:35) OpenAI’s ability to move fast and ship high-quality products
(35:56) OpenAI’s planning process and decision-making criteria
(40:22) The importance of real-time communication
(42:33) OpenAI’s team and growth
(44:47) Future developments at OpenAI
(47:42) GPT-5 and building toward the future
(50:38) OpenAI’s enterprise offering and the value of sharing custom applications
(52:30) New updates and features from OpenAI
(55:09) How to leverage OpenAI’s technology in products
(58:26) Encouragement for building with AI
(59:30) Lightning round
Referenced:
• OpenAI: openai.com/
• Sam Altman on X: / sama
• Greg Brockman on X: / gdb
• tldraw: www.tldraw.com/
• Harvey: www.harvey.ai/
• Boost Your Productivity with Generative AI: hbr.org/2023/06/boost-your-pr...
• Research: quantifying GitHub Copilot’s impact on developer productivity and happiness: github.blog/2022-09-07-resear...
• Lesson learnt from the DPD AI Chatbot swearing blunder: / lesson-learnt-from-dpd...
• Dennis Yang on LinkedIn: / dennisyang
• Tim Ferriss’s blog: tim.blog/
• Tyler Cowen on X: / tylercowen
• Tom Cruise on X: / tomcruise
• Canva: www.canva.com/
• Zapier: zapier.com/
• Siqi Chen on X: / blader
• Runway: runway.com/
• Universal Primer: chat.openai.com/g/g-GbLbctpPz...
• “I didn’t expect ChatGPT to get so good” | Unconfuse Me with Bill Gates: • “I didn’t expect ChatG...
• Microsoft Azure: azure.microsoft.com/
• Lennybot: www.lennybot.com/
• Visual Electric: visualelectric.com/
• DALL-E: openai.com/research/dall-e
• The One World Schoolhouse: www.amazon.com/One-World-Scho...
• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams: www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-U...
• Gran Turismo: www.netflix.com/title/81672085
• Gran Turismo video game: www.playstation.com/en-us/gra...
• Manta sleep mask: mantasleep.com/products/manta...
• WAOAW sleep mask: www.amazon.com/WAOAW-Sleep-Sl...
Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[@LoganKilpatrickYT]

Thank you so much for having me!

[@mprogano]

Show was great and insightful. Thank you. Was your GPT able to be shared?

[@dhamotharan1734]

Had learned a lot from this conversation with logan patrick. Thanks lenny for doing this!

[@jsj14]

Thank you for bringing someone from OpenAI. This was helpful.

[@freeman35423gs]

Great guest as usual! Thank you. For me it’s a bit eye-opening that prompt “take a break and answer” can improve the answer, even if we consider that it’s a code nothing else, because it’s trained on humans knowledge and interaction it copies them in every possible way.

[@videowatching9576]

Beautiful concept to “measure things in 100s” in terms of don’t feel a setback when just single digit things - also frankly inspired for a dating context, whether in meeting new people or going through dates! As well as in work and research!

[@Entrepreneur_in_progress]

It will be great to have Professor Yann LeCun, who has an amazing understanding and talks about the state and future of AI. So far I learned the most about AI from him and Andrej Karpathy (I would like to see him on the podcast as well)

[@LennysPodcast]

Thanks for the suggestion! Will work on that.

[@AgentHub_Ai]

Wonderful watch!

[@BillionMoonshots]

would love to try Logan’s GPT

[@Hastingsnow]

Thank you for sharing

[@vivaldomendes1002]

Funny that before Logan moved to AI, he was an active member of the Julia language: "Julia Developer Community Advocate , JuliaCon Organizer, and NumFOCUS Board of Directors". Somehow, this information is absent from the video and from the introduction to Logan's conversation.

[@NinoRisteski]

what does he means by 'high agency'?

[@ethanswoo]

Agency is this idea of self-capability and drive. Someone with low agency often might not even do anything unless told to. Someone with high agency sees a problem and tries to solve it themselves. They don’t need a lot of input, but they will welcome it if it produces better results. Low agency says “nobody taught me how.” High agency says, “I bet I can figure it out.”

[@yonatan09]

Those people are rare.

[@whatever3543]

This video would be 30 minutes shorter if the word "like" was removed.