11 ms·

Buzzword Convergence: Making Sense of Quantum Neural Blockchain AI

75 points by OberstKrueger 9y ago

ryanmarsh 9y ago
Came here to find an “April fools”, instead it’s a mostly serious article, albeit a tad tongue in cheek.
- ganzuul 9y ago
  So it did fool you.
skosch 9y ago
> Hashing has always been one of my favorite practical computation ideas (and I even independently came up with it when I was about 13 years old, in 1973). The man just can't help himself.
- tzar 9y ago
  And neither can we, it seems, help being trolled by it.
- goldenkey 9y ago
  I think it's mostly an internet joke nowadays, his calling card. I've watched some of his long talks and he comes off pretty likeable in them.
- petermcneeley 9y ago
  The SI unit for Ego is the Wolfram
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- rweba 9y ago
  Well, he WAS a child prodigy who published his first major paper at 18 and got his PhD when he was 20, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he actually did independently come up with the idea of hashing at age 13. In general I think people should just stop being triggered by Wolfram's comments. Yes, he does go out of his way to emphasize what he feels are his personal contributions. Yes, in some cases some of his claims do appear to be a bit exaggerated (e.g. some of his cellular automata stuff) But at the end of the day, he is still a pretty smart guy who actually writes about math/science topics fairly well, and I think that is far more important than raging every single time he gives himself credit for something or emphasizes his own work on a topic.
  - bhouston 9y ago
    Most people who are smart learn that emphasizing that you are smarter than others leads people to hate you and it generally makes one's life more difficult. How did Wolfram not realize this? Actually, I am sure he did, he's too smart to not have realized this, but I think he has one of those incredibly fragile egos where he needs to validate himself all the time to random people, even if doing has negative impacts on him. Zuckerberg doesn't do this, Musk doesn't do, Gates doesn't do this, the Google guys do not do this. I could go on and on. So many smart successful people do not have to do this all the time, but Wolfram does. It is so self-inflicted.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - ganzuul 9y ago
      As with any child prodigy, they are guaranteed to fall short of expectations. Either those of others or their own.
    - BiancaDelRio 9y ago
      > Most people who are smart learn that emphasizing that you are smarter than others leads people to hate you and it generally makes one's life more difficult. How did Wolfram not realize this? That also speaks tons about people who take offence at (hate) others for giving themselves generous credit.
- _bxg1 9y ago
  Independently coming up with the idea and independently implementing it are two different things. In college I independently came up with the idea of representing shapes as equations for decreased size and infinite fidelity, before I learned that vector graphics existed and were exactly that. But I had no idea where to start on implementing it.
  - goldenkey 9y ago
    Most programmers aren't aware of this - but we actually don't really know if one-way functions can actually exist. So all hash algorithms might be built on a false and faulty premise. In fact, whether a good hash algorithm can actually exist, is related to P = NP: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6830/2009fa/scribes/lecture5.pdf http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6830/2009fa/scribes/lect...
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  I skimmed over the article, read 10 random paragraphs in full. Looks like the kind of article I'm not likely to learn much from or otherwise find very entertaining. It's about 6500 words. And these are the 17 you take issue with: and I even independently came up with it when I was about 13 years old, in 1973. I'm fairly convinced if I pay enough attention to anyone I'll find something to criticise them about, but that generally doesn't say anything about the quality or impact of their work in the world. Do you have anything substantive to say about the article itself?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Smaug123 9y ago
Since we're in a whimsical mood: "There’s a function called Hash in the Wolfram Language, and for example applying it to the previous paragraph of text gives 8643827914633641131." I was a bit saddened to see that this was not "applying it to this paragraph of text gives…", which would have been quite the party trick.
- l9k 9y ago
  Would it be possible?
  - Smaug123 9y ago
    Probably. There are only 2^64 possible hash values (Mathematica's Hash function, with no method specified, produces a 32- or 64-bit output depending on platform), and there are many more strings than that which could reasonably be called a "paragraph". It's pretty reasonable to hope that there's a self-describing paragraph out there somewhere.
    - repsilat 9y ago
      Hah, "could in theory" vs "could in practice" -- depending on the hash function, it could take hundreds or thousands of processor-years. Maybe Google could do it. http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%5E64+things+%2F+%281+billion+things+%2F+second%29+in+years http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%5E64+things+%2F+%281+bi...
    - bluesign 9y ago
      Actually for any given paragraph, probabilty of hash(paragraph+hash) = hash is pretty high.
      - svantana 9y ago
        You mean that there exists at least one hash such that hashFunc(paragraph+hash) = hash? Yup, that probability converges to 1-exp(-1) = 63%. So it's no guarantee, but if you have some wiggle room in the paragraph (change the wording slightly etc) you can probably make it work.
jakeasmith 9y ago
Come back to me when I can have serverless quantum neural blockchain AI.
dmytrish 9y ago
An awesome glimpse into the coming buzzword singularity!
- tabtab 9y ago
  So it really is recursive turtles after all.
dangirsh 9y ago
Surprised that nobody's called out SingularityNet [1] as a serious venture along these lines (sans "quantum"). "By combining open source principles, blockchain integration, and leading minds in machine learning we will make AI a global commons for all." [1]: https://singularitynet.io/ https://singularitynet.io/
- bhouston 9y ago
  I don't know, I get the feeling this project will have a lot of hype but nothing useful come out of it in the end. The team behind it doesn't seem like they have had significant practical successes, or exits. I am also pretty prejudicial against anything that includes the term "singularity." That term sets of my bullshit detector.
- Chathamization 9y ago
  There are so many examples these days. Here's an IBM press release I just stumbled across a few hours ago[1]: >The two have been able to leverage JD’s expertise in the application of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data and other new technologies to protect consumers...Recent testing by Walmart showed that applying blockchain reduced the time it took to trace a package of mangoes from the farm to the store from days or weeks to two seconds. [1] https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53487.wss https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53487.wss
ganzuul 9y ago
> And the act of that measurement would in effect force the blockchain to pick a definite history. Wouldn't there be divergence, the further back in history you go between picks, due to collisions? Or is this what the reversible nature of the hashes take care of?

75 points by OberstKrueger 9y ago

ryanmarsh 9y ago

Came here to find an “April fools”, instead it’s a mostly serious article, albeit a tad tongue in cheek.

ganzuul 9y ago
So it did fool you.

skosch 9y ago

> Hashing has always been one of my favorite practical computation ideas (and I even independently came up with it when I was about 13 years old, in 1973). The man just can't help himself.

tzar 9y ago
And neither can we, it seems, help being trolled by it.
goldenkey 9y ago
I think it's mostly an internet joke nowadays, his calling card. I've watched some of his long talks and he comes off pretty likeable in them.
petermcneeley 9y ago
The SI unit for Ego is the Wolfram
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rweba 9y ago
Well, he WAS a child prodigy who published his first major paper at 18 and got his PhD when he was 20, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he actually did independently come up with the idea of hashing at age 13. In general I think people should just stop being triggered by Wolfram's comments. Yes, he does go out of his way to emphasize what he feels are his personal contributions. Yes, in some cases some of his claims do appear to be a bit exaggerated (e.g. some of his cellular automata stuff) But at the end of the day, he is still a pretty smart guy who actually writes about math/science topics fairly well, and I think that is far more important than raging every single time he gives himself credit for something or emphasizes his own work on a topic.
- bhouston 9y ago
  Most people who are smart learn that emphasizing that you are smarter than others leads people to hate you and it generally makes one's life more difficult. How did Wolfram not realize this? Actually, I am sure he did, he's too smart to not have realized this, but I think he has one of those incredibly fragile egos where he needs to validate himself all the time to random people, even if doing has negative impacts on him. Zuckerberg doesn't do this, Musk doesn't do, Gates doesn't do this, the Google guys do not do this. I could go on and on. So many smart successful people do not have to do this all the time, but Wolfram does. It is so self-inflicted.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - ganzuul 9y ago
    As with any child prodigy, they are guaranteed to fall short of expectations. Either those of others or their own.
  - BiancaDelRio 9y ago
    > Most people who are smart learn that emphasizing that you are smarter than others leads people to hate you and it generally makes one's life more difficult. How did Wolfram not realize this? That also speaks tons about people who take offence at (hate) others for giving themselves generous credit.
_bxg1 9y ago
Independently coming up with the idea and independently implementing it are two different things. In college I independently came up with the idea of representing shapes as equations for decreased size and infinite fidelity, before I learned that vector graphics existed and were exactly that. But I had no idea where to start on implementing it.
- goldenkey 9y ago
  Most programmers aren't aware of this - but we actually don't really know if one-way functions can actually exist. So all hash algorithms might be built on a false and faulty premise. In fact, whether a good hash algorithm can actually exist, is related to P = NP: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6830/2009fa/scribes/lecture5.pdf http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6830/2009fa/scribes/lect...
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
I skimmed over the article, read 10 random paragraphs in full. Looks like the kind of article I'm not likely to learn much from or otherwise find very entertaining. It's about 6500 words. And these are the 17 you take issue with: and I even independently came up with it when I was about 13 years old, in 1973. I'm fairly convinced if I pay enough attention to anyone I'll find something to criticise them about, but that generally doesn't say anything about the quality or impact of their work in the world. Do you have anything substantive to say about the article itself?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Smaug123 9y ago

Since we're in a whimsical mood: "There’s a function called Hash in the Wolfram Language, and for example applying it to the previous paragraph of text gives 8643827914633641131." I was a bit saddened to see that this was not "applying it to this paragraph of text gives…", which would have been quite the party trick.

l9k 9y ago
Would it be possible?
- Smaug123 9y ago
  Probably. There are only 2^64 possible hash values (Mathematica's Hash function, with no method specified, produces a 32- or 64-bit output depending on platform), and there are many more strings than that which could reasonably be called a "paragraph". It's pretty reasonable to hope that there's a self-describing paragraph out there somewhere.
  - repsilat 9y ago
    Hah, "could in theory" vs "could in practice" -- depending on the hash function, it could take hundreds or thousands of processor-years. Maybe Google could do it. http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%5E64+things+%2F+%281+billion+things+%2F+second%29+in+years http://m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2%5E64+things+%2F+%281+bi...
  - bluesign 9y ago
    Actually for any given paragraph, probabilty of hash(paragraph+hash) = hash is pretty high.
    - svantana 9y ago
      You mean that there exists at least one hash such that hashFunc(paragraph+hash) = hash? Yup, that probability converges to 1-exp(-1) = 63%. So it's no guarantee, but if you have some wiggle room in the paragraph (change the wording slightly etc) you can probably make it work.

jakeasmith 9y ago

Come back to me when I can have serverless quantum neural blockchain AI.

dmytrish 9y ago

An awesome glimpse into the coming buzzword singularity!

tabtab 9y ago
So it really is recursive turtles after all.

dangirsh 9y ago

Surprised that nobody's called out SingularityNet [1] as a serious venture along these lines (sans "quantum"). "By combining open source principles, blockchain integration, and leading minds in machine learning we will make AI a global commons for all." [1]: https://singularitynet.io/ https://singularitynet.io/

bhouston 9y ago
I don't know, I get the feeling this project will have a lot of hype but nothing useful come out of it in the end. The team behind it doesn't seem like they have had significant practical successes, or exits. I am also pretty prejudicial against anything that includes the term "singularity." That term sets of my bullshit detector.
Chathamization 9y ago
There are so many examples these days. Here's an IBM press release I just stumbled across a few hours ago[1]: >The two have been able to leverage JD’s expertise in the application of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data and other new technologies to protect consumers...Recent testing by Walmart showed that applying blockchain reduced the time it took to trace a package of mangoes from the farm to the store from days or weeks to two seconds. [1] https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53487.wss https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/53487.wss

ganzuul 9y ago

> And the act of that measurement would in effect force the blockchain to pick a definite history. Wouldn't there be divergence, the further back in history you go between picks, due to collisions? Or is this what the reversible nature of the hashes take care of?