Hi Klaus - I enjoyed this read. Thank you for pointing me to a non-political read. Two points. One, you point out that machine learning doesn't need to be complicated and people wanting to mystify their work. I find this to be a problem of our age. Trying to make things sound and look more complicated because we look smarter and more sophisticated. It's actually much harder to take complexity and simplify it for laymen consumption. This as a good point you made. Second, I found it very interesting you said no one could predict Russia invading Ukraine. I would have thought machine learning could take in a variety of factors and spurt out the likelihood of invasion occurring. It sounds like it would be a good idea to know the future, but it gives me concern that allowing for more accurate predictions could enable governments, institutions and any actors to then be able to create the desired outcome by manipulation. What on your thoughts on machine learning and being able to manipulate features to create the desired target?
I was also like, OH Razib Khan’s substack name is a double entendre!
I am going to have to read this slowly when it is not midnight. I think I will learn a lot. I had no idea. Is there a 3rd grade version?
Hi Klaus - I enjoyed this read. Thank you for pointing me to a non-political read. Two points. One, you point out that machine learning doesn't need to be complicated and people wanting to mystify their work. I find this to be a problem of our age. Trying to make things sound and look more complicated because we look smarter and more sophisticated. It's actually much harder to take complexity and simplify it for laymen consumption. This as a good point you made. Second, I found it very interesting you said no one could predict Russia invading Ukraine. I would have thought machine learning could take in a variety of factors and spurt out the likelihood of invasion occurring. It sounds like it would be a good idea to know the future, but it gives me concern that allowing for more accurate predictions could enable governments, institutions and any actors to then be able to create the desired outcome by manipulation. What on your thoughts on machine learning and being able to manipulate features to create the desired target?
Interesting! I love reading stuff that I know nothing about. Nothing!
Except the Big Five. I know about that. And what an apple is. That sums it up.