(1) Not all ML needs massive amounts of data. For instance Leela Zero and LCZero want a bunch of horsepower instead. So a task that features a simple set of rul

(1) Not all ML needs massive amounts of data. For instance Leela Zero and LCZero want a bunch of horsepower instead. So a task that features a simple set of rules but tries to find the best way to do it should work just fine here. (2) Having a 'verifier' is how mining pools work already, so it's not adding complexity or anything else. That said, I didn't read the paper either, but I would say thinking about how to harness the massive resources being used to mine crypto these days is nowhere near a wasted effort. At some point, someone is going to look at all the things that have been proposed and the way some network is set up and it will click.