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If it’s a list of tweets ordered based on a kajillion ML data points that varies per user is it still an algorithm? And does every user have their own algorith
by jonwinstanley 4y ago
If it’s a list of tweets ordered based on a kajillion ML data points that varies per user is it still an algorithm?
And does every user have their own algorithm?
And could it be made readable to a human?
- abduhl 4y agoYes, irrelevant, and the code somewhere is readable. Take an example like gravity: is there an algorithm for how gravity acts even though it varies per each molecule based on a kajillion other molecules? Of course there is.
- pavlov 4y ago
- zbentley 4y agoComputer systems, even AI/ML-driven ones, aren't uncomprehended the way some areas of science that we haven't developed a strong understanding of are. Systems comprised of (or generated by) comprehensible parts can be comprehended, we just often opt not to put in that work. There's a reason model interpretability is such a significant and increasingly-demanded area of expertise.
- marcinzm 4y agoIf I have your DNA can I recreate a perfect copy of you as you are now including your mind? It is after all the code you were made with.
- vasco 4y agoThe point is not to recreate it or explain it, or to have a way to say "tweet X will get rank Y" but to open source what there is. It doesn't matter if no single person can explain it, it'll still be open source and readable and the types of inputs will be known. But this doesn't look like a discussion on open source and more about politics at this point. I for one haven't worked at FAANG and think it'll be super interesting to read this code, I can't believe software engineers are complaining about a potentially super complex bleeding edge codebase for timeline recommendations / ranking being open sourced. This is going to be great reading material if it ever gets published!
- abduhl 4y agoNobody is trying to “recreate a perfect copy” of Twitter. Do you think that code which produces random numbers is also not an algorithm because it doesn’t recreate a perfect copy of a previous random number?
- stjohnswarts 4y agoNo you can't, you can only make a twin, but the mind is shaped by experience also and not just genetics. As is the body.
- ironmagma 4y agoIn that case, the definition of “the algorithm” is the training set.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> the definition of “the algorithm” is the training set Or the trained model itself. There are people looking for intentional bias. But the insidiousness of the problem likely arises from unintentional bias. Letting researchers brute force the ranking models with hypotheticals could be a win win.
- ironmagma 4y agoIs there any reason to not think that like most human-created systems it has a mixture of intentional and unintentional bias?
- lamontcg 4y agoTwitter itself is probably the training set for twitter.
- ironmagma 4y agoIn that case, the algorithm is the labels.