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> "whether you actually need a quantum computer to sample the rows of a partially-specified low-rank matrix in polylogarithmic time" Could that be used in clus
by vanderZwan 8y ago
> "whether you actually need a quantum computer to sample the rows of a partially-specified low-rank matrix in polylogarithmic time"
Could that be used in clustering algorithms in BioInformatics?
EDIT: Sorry, Aaronson's writing is just too funny not to put that quote in full context:
> On the Hacker News thread, some commenters are lamenting that such a brilliant mind as Ewin’s would spend its time figuring out how to entice consumers to buy even more products that they don’t need. I confess that that’s an angle that hadn’t even occurred to me: I simply thought that it was a beautiful question whether you actually need a quantum computer to sample the rows of a partially-specified low-rank matrix in polylogarithmic time, and if the application to recommendation systems helped to motivate that question, then so much the better. Now, though, I feel compelled to point out that, in addition to the potentially lucrative application to Amazon and Netflix, research on low-rank matrix sampling algorithms might someday find many other, more economically worthless applications as well.
- jtbayly 8y ago"research on low-rank matrix sampling algorithms might someday find many other, more economically worthless applications as well." I'm not sure whether this is a typo, and he means to say that there might be more economically worthwhile applications, or whether he's trolling the people complaining that this is useless by pointing out that there are real economic benefits to it right now.
- gbacon 8y agoIt is not a typo but a jab at wannabe elitists who are sneering at Ewin’s work because of its ready applicability to Amazon and Netflix recommendations — as though the discovery would be more worthwhile if it had no economically valuable uses.
- btilly 8y agoNeither. He's trolling the people who regret that the result of this research is manipulating people. By pointing out that there is a real potential for applications that they object to less.
- reitanqild 8y agoAnd this is an example of trolling done right and for the good of (mostly?) everyone :-)
- rcoveson 8y agoIt's a very broad definition of "manipulating people" that includes recommendation algorithms. The problem, as stated, seems to call for an implementation of a perfectly benign strategy for recommending content. Clustering users by their ratings of various titles is the kind of thing any hobbyist statistician might do to help their friends find movies they like using online data sets. There are methods to use data to improve people's experiences, and sometimes corporations employ those methods.
- btilly 8y agoWith a slight tweak, this is also the kind of algorithm that is used to personalize disinformation campaigns for large numbers of people. As Cambridge Analytica was famously trying to do in the 2016 election. So yes, this algorithm is useful for manipulating people. And not just by using an extremely broad definition of the term.
- dwaltrip 8y agoYou must admit that there is a very large difference between a friend doing something for me and a corporation doing the same thing.
- tangentspace 8y agoWhat is the difference?
- bacon_waffle 8y agoOne increases social connection, and the other doesn't.
- dwaltrip 8y ago
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]