Dave Grundgeiger in Rick’s Room

Rick reconnects with longtime friend and indie film collaborator Dave Grundgeiger, now a seasoned computer programmer and founder of Contextium. Dave introduces his unique approach to artificial intelligence, one that diverges from mainstream large language models (LLMs) by focusing on deterministic, rule-based natural language understanding. This method allows deeper modeling of meaning and could help solve issues like hallucinations in AI outputs—particularly critical in sensitive fields like law or medicine.

Show Highlights

Rick Grant:
Hi, and welcome back to Rick’s Room. Today, I have an old and dear friend with me. I met him in the indie film world, if you can believe that, but he’s actually one of the most gifted computer programmers I know. Dave Grundgeiger is with us today. He’s the founder of Contextium.

Dave Grundgeiger:
Thanks for having me, Rick. It’s good to see you, my friend.

Rick:
Yeah, we were together in Madison for years, and then you moved out to Hollywood. Your daughter is in the business out there, and you work remotely now with companies around the country. Today I want to catch up with you—and more importantly, talk about your pet project. You’re working in an area I find fascinating, but also kind of mysterious. Tell me at a high level what you’re working on.

Dave:
Of course. It’s in the field of AI—but not the kind making headlines with large language models (LLMs). Those systems are great, and I use them every day. But what I’m working on at Contextium is a bit different.

I use older-school techniques to analyze language in a deterministic way, meaning there’s no training data involved. I’m focused on modeling meaning—understanding deep relationships in language that LLMs tend to miss. My approach can complement machine learning, especially when it comes to spotting hallucinations.

Rick:
Hallucinations are still a thing?

Dave:
Very much. We tend to gloss over it because most outputs are okay—but when LLMs get things wrong, especially in legal or medical contexts, the consequences are serious. What I’m working on is a way to vet what the AI says—compare it to trusted databases and ensure it’s not just making stuff up.

Rick:
That makes sense. And you’ve been at this a long time—not jumping on a trend.

Dave:
Right. Since my teenage years, I’ve wanted to talk to computers. I use LLMs daily, like Claude or ChatGPT. I treat them like smart interns—they’re great at generating boilerplate code or writing drafts, but I always double-check them.

Rick:
Same in PR—we use AI to assemble drafts and research, then add our human creativity.

Dave:
Exactly. People think programming is purely logical, but to me it’s incredibly creative. You’re modeling the world. I often say programming is like writing magical incantations—strings of words that make physical machines carry out your intent. That’s magic.

Rick:
You’re a wizard, Dave.

Dave:
[Laughs] I like to think so. When I was younger, I thought everyone would want to program if they had the chance. Eventually, I realized there are other forms of creativity people connect with more—and that’s great.

Rick:
So, what’s the future for Contextium? What are you building?

Dave:
Two things: First, I’m deeply curious about the mind and consciousness. It’s a lifelong interest of mine. Second, I want to build a business that supports that exploration.

In practical terms, I see a strong opportunity in hallucination detection. As AI helps us make bigger decisions, we need systems that verify what these models say. More broadly, I want to enable people to do things they couldn’t do before—because we now have tools that make it possible.

Rick:
I’ve heard people misuse LLMs, treating them like search engines. But you’re pushing toward something much more powerful.

Dave:
Yes. Ultimately, I want to create that spark you feel in a real conversation—a sense of awareness, even if the system isn’t conscious. If it can happen in this group of atoms (points to himself), maybe it can happen in another.

Rick:
Well, we’ve been visiting with Dave Grundgeiger, founder of Contextium and a good friend. Dave, thanks for being here.