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I just assumed this was going on already. Maybe because they are working with a professor on this effort it had to be revealed. I wonder if behind the scenes

I just assumed this was going on already. Maybe because they are working with a professor on this effort it had to be revealed. I wonder if behind the scenes the Navy or the military had already done this multiple times and this is just another attempt.

Zenst 7y ago
Or by announcing it, they give the impression that it is something they have not done previously. Indeed, they might want to see how some people react to this and a sudden stream of deletions of social media posts by individuals/groups after finding out about this - would be of interest too them. Another possibility is that the military like a large company has many arms and legs and highly possible that it is something that is already done, but by some seperate part of that collective that the rest are not aware of. I've seen a company the size of 100 have two people do the same project for nearly 6 months before they realised about the other and the duplication of work. More people, more separate divisions/locations, more chance duplication on some levels happens. For me, I suspect the later, but equally mindful that as a tactic - doing something and then after you have done it, say your going to do it to gauge reactions - is a tactic that would not be out of place in any military intelligence collective.
mlb_hn 7y ago
US Government's been great at collecting tons of data. Analyzing it... not so much.
- squarefoot 7y ago
  "Analyzing it... not so much." Or maybe they have learned a few things by reading Sun Tzu.
  - mlb_hn 7y ago
    I'd guess there have been significant advances in network theory and NLP since Sun Tzu's time but I'm not an expert.
    - squarefoot 7y ago
      Yes, my point is that the military usually don't show what they can do and more importantly what they can't do. Should they have the best algorithm in the world to match anything with anything in that data, there would be many reasons not to reveal that.
      - mlb_hn 7y ago
        I'm not sure there's been any evidence that the military has had success utilizing current computational approaches to data. E.g. the DCGS project was a failure and I don't think that project tried anything beyond what you'd get out of Microsoft Excel (https://nypost.com/2014/10/27/army-spent-5b-on-failed-technology-created-by-vets/ https://nypost.com/2014/10/27/army-spent-5b-on-failed-techno...). DoD plans for projects that last for decades and the algorithms people are building for commercial purposes today are developing way faster than DoD's procurement can keep up I'd guess,

Zenst 7y ago

Or by announcing it, they give the impression that it is something they have not done previously. Indeed, they might want to see how some people react to this and a sudden stream of deletions of social media posts by individuals/groups after finding out about this - would be of interest too them. Another possibility is that the military like a large company has many arms and legs and highly possible that it is something that is already done, but by some seperate part of that collective that the rest are not aware of. I've seen a company the size of 100 have two people do the same project for nearly 6 months before they realised about the other and the duplication of work. More people, more separate divisions/locations, more chance duplication on some levels happens. For me, I suspect the later, but equally mindful that as a tactic - doing something and then after you have done it, say your going to do it to gauge reactions - is a tactic that would not be out of place in any military intelligence collective.

mlb_hn 7y ago

US Government's been great at collecting tons of data. Analyzing it... not so much.

squarefoot 7y ago
"Analyzing it... not so much." Or maybe they have learned a few things by reading Sun Tzu.
- mlb_hn 7y ago
  I'd guess there have been significant advances in network theory and NLP since Sun Tzu's time but I'm not an expert.
  - squarefoot 7y ago
    Yes, my point is that the military usually don't show what they can do and more importantly what they can't do. Should they have the best algorithm in the world to match anything with anything in that data, there would be many reasons not to reveal that.
    - mlb_hn 7y ago
      I'm not sure there's been any evidence that the military has had success utilizing current computational approaches to data. E.g. the DCGS project was a failure and I don't think that project tried anything beyond what you'd get out of Microsoft Excel (https://nypost.com/2014/10/27/army-spent-5b-on-failed-technology-created-by-vets/ https://nypost.com/2014/10/27/army-spent-5b-on-failed-techno...). DoD plans for projects that last for decades and the algorithms people are building for commercial purposes today are developing way faster than DoD's procurement can keep up I'd guess,