aAn employee at a tech startup in Australia has revealed she was worried the entire business was a scam and wanted to “get out” as soon as possible.
A few years after she severed ties with the company, everything collapsed and it closed its doors, after the founder died and $49 million of investors’ money disappeared.
Gold Coast tech entrepreneur Alan Metcalfe Safe Worlds was launched in the early 2000s.a technology platform he suggested would one day become “bigger than Google” because it made advances in artificial intelligence.
But Brisbane software developer Tahli Joy Grace didn’t believe what she was told, describing the technology as a “ridiculous” version of Google, Amazon and eBay.
She worked at Safe Worlds from June 2013 to February 2014 and hacked into the algorithm’s database and claims she found nothing there.
News.com.au Launched $49 million missingthe first-ever multi-part investigative podcast series.
Metcalfe convinced hundreds of investors to part with their money — in some cases their life savings — because he discovered the secret code to artificial intelligence in the Bible.
But when he died in 2017, investors wondered what happened to their $49 million.
Large sums of money have disappeared, and no one seems to know where they are, and I plan to find them.
I have already done it Alan Metcalfe’s life of fraud, dating back to his early 20s, is revealed. – And I found out a lot about what Alan Metcalfe was doing with investors’ money.
The first three episodes of $49 million missing You can listen to the podcasts now wherever you get them. An episode will be released every week for this eight-part series.
Available on Spotify here.
Available on Apple Podcasts here.
Want to know more? Contact us | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au
Metcalfe claims to have discovered the secret code of artificial intelligence, which he calls the Universal Logic or the Law of Thought.
He added that this algorithm can simulate the human mind, and thus it will revolutionize the world of technology, because it will know exactly how users think and thus can be better targeted and be the best search tool.
But the former worker, Mrs. Grace, had serious doubts.
“Alan felt that the main selling point was this universal logic. But no one could explain exactly what universal logic was. It was just a mysterious, magical concept,” she recalled.
“It crept into the codebase, and it was just a glorified, cliched version of Google — a search index that barely worked. It wasn’t anything great.
“It made me wonder if this was too risky. Within a few months, I realized it was all a big scam and wanted out.”
Others have also questioned the AI aspect of the scheme. Jason* is a high-profile Australian businessman He asked not to be named because he was embarrassed to participate in the Safe Worlds project.
“Let’s see if this guy has what he claims to have, that could change the world,” he said.
With his extensive business connections, Jason was asked to help attract some big investors, and he agreed. But things quickly went south.
“It wasn’t good at all, honestly,” he said.
Metcalf introduced himself to people with “deep pockets” but found the conversations took some strange turns.
“All he said was that[this AI code]came from the Bible, that’s all. People in the room were trying not to laugh. It was unbelievable, but this must be how he works and it has worked for him in the past,” Jason said.
In these meetings, Metcalf was unable to tell them anything specific, such as where the money was going.
“Is it in a trust fund?” Jason asked. “Is it in an escrow account? What will the money be spent on? Don’t just say AI. What exactly? Further development? There was no progress. There was no plan. There was nothing.”
Many times, the people he introduced to Metcalf turned away from him, and eventually, he turned his back on the project as well.
Dr Sarah Shiroozhan, a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales who specializes in artificial intelligence, analyzed Alan’s idea of universal logic and said she did not understand it.
“The idea and methods proposed by Alan are all based on reliable sources,” said Dr. Shiroozhan.
“I concluded that the idea had value, but was too ambitious at the time.”
But she added: “I didn’t understand what he meant by universal logic.”
She also wasn’t sure he actually knew what AI was.
“He talks about AI in different ways, and it’s not entirely clear what AI algorithm he’s referring to,” Dr. Shiroozhan continued.
“Does he really know what AI is?”
When I asked her about Metcalf’s claim that he had this breakthrough while reading the Bible in 1999, Dr. Sherwin-Williams’ reaction was immediate.
“He is not academic at all,” she said frankly.
The first three episodes of $49 million missing Available to listen now wherever you get your podcasts. An episode will be released each week for this eight-part series.
Available on Spotify here.
Available on Apple Podcasts here.
Alex Turner Cohen@news.com.au
