What Startup Ideas Does His AI Experiment Give You? | Chat with Ya Ge: Giving AI Ears and Eyes, Using AI to Buy Groceries and Ship Packages
July 6, 2025
In the tech world, there are curious, hands-on geeks who jump on new products the moment they appear. They don't just use them — they sometimes assemble and mod them themselves, pushing the original product into entirely new territory.
This week's guest, Yage, is exactly that kind of geek. Lately, he's been running AI experiments. He built his own voice input method, using an Apple Watch to record everything he says 24/7, giving AI rich linguistic material to better understand him. He's also strapped an Insta360 to his chest, capturing all-day video and photos. In our interview, we described these experiments as giving AI ears and eyes — elegantly solving the extreme information asymmetry in human-AI communication. Beyond that, he's successfully gotten AI to buy groceries and ship packages for him.
In this episode, Yage shares these experiments and what he's learned from them, plus his reflections on how humans should use AI after "radically boosting efficiency."
We invited Yage to Crossroads because we believe his experience as an early adopter and the projects he's tinkered with can offer future product inspiration for many AI founders.
Yage was also a guest on our episode Manus and Its Viral Moment: 20 Questions to Understand AI Agents. His personal blog, "computing life," is worth a read for anyone interested in AI.
Finally, we recommend Yage's course, From User to Builder, which helps you evolve from an AI tool user into a capable builder — creating practical projects with AI, boosting work efficiency, and strengthening your professional edge.
🟢 Part One: Yage and His AI Experiments
02:26 Yage rapid-fire Q&A
03:30 Life beyond AI and code: pilot's license, excavator license, boating license, photography exhibitions... chasing experiences
05:36 Where his AI research began: AI sometimes seems brilliant, sometimes idiotic — because humans don't give clear enough instructions
07:40 After realizing unclear instructions were the problem, how he adjusted his approach to using AI
08:17 Sometimes too much context is needed, so he built a voice input method to reduce friction with AI
10:44 Speculation on ChatGPT's recent gray-scale testing
12:09 After switching to voice input, encountering ChatGPT's memory limitations
14:22 To solve the problem of constantly re-explaining context to AI, he invited AI into his life — starting the 24-hour Apple Watch recording experiment
15:25 A near-miss while driving, carefully reviewed thanks to Apple Watch recording
17:45 Voice input + 24-hour Apple Watch recording provided information input; he then built a bootleg ChatGPT, connecting multiple models and applying Agentic AI thinking to call tools
19:35 Strapping Insta360 to his chest, shooting a 15-second video every two minutes — still ongoing
21:50 For the captured video: first use AI to remove sensitive images, then generate search keywords for easy retrieval, finally consider presentation such as composition and aesthetics
22:58 Used machine learning to analyze captured photos, alerting himself to poor posture
24:22 After 20,000 photos: expected vs. unexpected discoveries
25:05 As information asymmetry between us and AI gradually decreases, what does life become?
26:57 Currently exploring two directions: first, AI proactively intervening in our lives
29:49 Second, retrospective recall
30:51 Beyond giving AI eyes and ears, how to use it for concrete tasks in daily life
31:50 Getting ChatGPT to buy groceries
33:01 Getting ChatGPT to ship packages
🟢 Part Two: Reflections on How Humans Should Use AI
34:22 Pursuing so-called "cyber immortality" — doing more with limited time
36:11 Will GUIs disappear in the future?
38:10 New interaction patterns for Apple Watch
40:01 AI means we no longer have to wait for some manufacturer to build the product we want; instead, we can infuse our own ideas into existing products
41:00 After analyzing Manus and Agents on Crossroads earlier this year, is he using Manus or other Agent products now?
42:37 High-energy living: partly enabled by AI handling tasks, partly by doing the most interesting/challenging things every day
44:23 The greatest joy of these AI experiments: accomplishing things previously impossible
45:52 Imagination of AI+human cyber lifestyle, simply summarized as "awkward"
47:04 For heavy AI users, when AI knows you better than family and friends — is it joyful, depressing, or terrifying?
49:29 Bradley Cooper film Limitless
50:38 Heavy AI use means losing the feeling of completely empty leisure, but he loves tinkering anyway — without AI, he'd fill his time with other things
52:13 As a father, how does he view raising his child alongside AI?
53:56 Recent industry observations: AI evolution isn't slowing, Agentic AI is becoming the trend
56:12 Products he loves and would want to help improve: ChatGPT, also willing to contribute to Gemini
57:43 Yage's daily time allocation
58:17 Advice for engineers already using AI on how to become more efficient
01:00:04 Interacting with AI using management principles
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🚦 Crossroads was Steve Jobs' metaphor for Apple — standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is transforming every industry. We seek out, interview, and bring together a new generation of AI founders and active participants in the AI era. Together, we explore and embrace new changes, new possibilities.
👦🏻 Host Koji: Co-founded Jiepang / The Fair / Tangdao. Founded AI Hacker House, a community space for a new generation of AI entrepreneurs. I believe technology, especially AI, represents our generation's greatest opportunity for value creation. Feel free to reach out to chat, bounce ideas, and connect on what's next. Koji on Jike, Koji's website
👧🏻 Host Ronghui: Worked at a USD VC, spent five years as a Silicon Valley correspondent. Tracking tech development and business stories. Feel free to reach out and exchange ideas. Ronghui on Jike
🎄 This podcast is supported by The Fair's Sound Forest Podcast Initiative.