_{Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis}

Eric Holloway

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 25, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning

Tagged
Empirical Generalized Information (EGI)}

Machine learning: Harnessing the Power of Empirical Generalized Information (EGI)

_{We can calculate a probability bound from entropy. Entropy also happens to be an upper bound on the binomial distribution} _{Eric Holloway

November 25, 2019

5

Machine Learning}

We want our calculation to demonstrate the notion that if we have high accuracy and a small model, then we have high confidence of generalizing. Intuitively, then, we add the model size to the accuracy and subtract this quantity from the entropy of having absolutely no information about the problem.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 23, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Science fiction, TruMind serial}

Arctang Knows He Must Choose

_{Arctang stood aghast. “How could you believe any of this? Do you really think you are just a program on a computer?" —Trumind Serial, Part 8} _{Eric Holloway

November 23, 2019

9

Arts & Culture}

“I can give you a taste of the future even before you undergo the operation,” Eclar explained, “I have a nouspace unit right here with me.”

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 20, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning

Tagged
Clue (board game), decision tree, Entropy, Probability}

Machine Learning: Decision Trees Can Solve Murders

_{Decision trees increase our chance at a right answer. We can see how that works in a mystery board game like Clue} _{Eric Holloway

November 20, 2019

6

Machine Learning}

Entropy is a concept in information theory that characterizes the number of choices available when a probability distribution is involved. Understanding how it works helps us make better guesses.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 18, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning

Tagged
Occam's razor, Probability}

Machine Learning: Using Occam’s Razor to Generalize

_{A simple thought experiment shows us how} _{Eric Holloway

November 18, 2019

4

Machine Learning}

This approach is contrary to Fisher's method where we formulate all theories before encountering the data. We came up with the model after we saw the cards we drew.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 16, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Science fiction, TruMind serial}

Empath—the Ultimate Technology—Cares About You

_{Arctang discovers how empathy can be manufactured—Trumind Serial, Part 6} _{Eric Holloway

November 16, 2019

7

Arts & Culture}

Arctang was one of the few outsiders who knew TruMind's secret. Long ago, his elder brother had entered the fortress-like facility, never to be seen again.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 12, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Programming

Tagged
Featured, Google, halting oracle, IBM, Kolmogorov complexity, Quantum Computing, Quantum Supremacy, Solomonoff induction}

Google vs. IBM?: Quantum Supremacy Isn’t the Big Fix Anyway

_{If human thought is a halting oracle, then even quantum computing will not allow us to replicate human intelligence} _{Eric Holloway

November 12, 2019

8

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Programming}

Google’s quantum supremacy claim is certainly fascinating and controversial, but even if true, it ultimately only amounts to an incremental and even inconsequential improvement in the state of AI and ML, due to the still-unmet need for a halting oracle.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 11, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning, Programming

Tagged
Data snooping, Occam's razor, Probability}

Occam’s Razor Can Shave Away Data Snooping

_{The greater an object's information content, the lower its probability.} _{Eric Holloway

November 11, 2019

4

Machine Learning, Programming}

One technique to avoid data snooping is based on the intersection of information theory and probability: An object’s probability is related to its information content. The greater an object’s information content, the lower its probability. We measure a model’s information content as the logarithmic difference between the probability that the data occurred by chance and the number of bits required to store the model. The negative exponential of the difference is the model’s probability of occurring by chance. If the data cannot be compressed, then these two values are equal. Then the model has zero information and we cannot know if the data was generated by chance or not. For a dataset that is incompressible and uninformative, swirl some tea…

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 7, 2019

Categorized
Education, Programming

Tagged
Data snooping, Ronald Fisher}

Machine Learning, Part 3: Don’t Snoop on Your Data

_{You risk using a feature for prediction that is common to the dataset, but not to the problem you are studying} _{Eric Holloway

November 7, 2019

4

Education, Programming}

As long as we can establish that our theories, hypotheses, and/or models are independent of the data, then we can trust that their predictive power will generalize beyond the data we have observed.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 5, 2019

Categorized
Education, Machine Learning, Programming

Tagged
Algorithms, discrimination, Machine Learning, Supervised Learning}

Machine Learning, Part 2: Supervised Learning

_{Machine learning isn’t hard to understand; it’s just different. Let’s start with the most common type} _{Eric Holloway

November 5, 2019

4

Education, Machine Learning, Programming}

The neat thing about machine learning is that the algorithm can extract general principles from the dataset that can then be applied to new problems. It is like the story that Newton observed an apple fall and then derived from it the general law of gravity that applies to the entire universe.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 2, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Science fiction, TruMind serial}

Finally… the Ultimate Smart Machine

_{Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small startup called TruMind made the AI dream a reality—Trumind Serial, Part 6} _{Eric Holloway

November 2, 2019

6

Arts & Culture}

While the skeptics said it could not be done, and even industry veterans and the most idealistic AI pioneers had serious doubts, TruMind revolutionized the entire world of technology seemingly overnight with the TruMind capsule.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 26, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Technocracy

Tagged
Science fiction, TruMind serial}

Mindtrap

_{Is immortality worth risking the unthinkable? — Trumind serial, part 5} _{Eric Holloway

October 26, 2019

5

Arts & Culture, Technocracy}

Once he’d lit up the entire sequence and it was displayed back to him above the number pad, Johann felt a tremendous euphoric rush of success, the likes of which he'd never felt in his life, even at the close of his greatest deals.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 22, 2019

Categorized
Education, Machine Learning

Tagged
Goodhart’s Law, Teaching to the test}

The Challenge of Teaching Machines to Generalize

_{Teaching students simply to pass tests provides a good illustration of the problems} _{Eric Holloway

October 22, 2019

4

Education, Machine Learning}

We want the machine learning algorithms to learn general principles from the data, and not merely little tricks and trivia that that score high but ignore problems.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 19, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Science fiction, TruMind serial}

A Singular Space Adventure Takes A Twist…

_{The old man could buy anything but youth. Until now, maybe. —TruMind serial, part 4} _{Eric Holloway

October 19, 2019

5

Arts & Culture}

He was the richest man in history, having amassed wealth through his inheritance and that of a few other unfortunate people.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 12, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Science fiction}

Neuroharvest

_{TruMind engineers had discovered a new science: editing the very fabric of reality. – a tale, from the TruMind serial, part 3} _{Eric Holloway

October 12, 2019

5

Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind}

But there was a lingering problem. To power the world’s vacuums and rice cookers, the Craizins had to be at the source of the action: the home. But no one wanted somewhat smelly teenage gamers hulking around in their homes.

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post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 5, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Science fiction}

The Brain: Junkyard, Watch, or Antenna?

_{A warped genius reviews the options, as he seeks ultimate power - a tale} _{Eric Holloway

October 5, 2019

8

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind}

After many dead ends, Flim realized that all forms of human power are ultimately controlled by the human mind. Thus, if he could harness the power of the mind, he would finally be able to create anything his heart could desire.

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post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 28, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Science fiction, Weapons}

Ghost in the Nuke

_{Weapons have no souls, thus greater power ensures our safety…? —a tale} _{Eric Holloway

September 28, 2019

4

Arts & Culture}

Arctang's grip tightened on the throttle. This was it. No going back. The Fortress loomed, gigantic towers gazing down on him, laser dots peppering his window.

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 26, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
omnibenevolence}

“Friendly” Artificial Intelligence Would Kill Us

_{Is that a shocking idea? Let’s follow the logic} _{Eric Holloway

September 26, 2019

6

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

We don't want to invent a stupid god who accidentally turns the universe into grey goo or paperclips, But any god we create in our image will be just as incompetent and evil as we are, if not more so. A dilemma!

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 23, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Cross entropy, Entropy, free will, Information Theory, Surprisal}

Can Free Will Really Be a Scientific Idea?

_{Yes, if we look at it from the perspective of information theory} _{Eric Holloway

September 23, 2019

9

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

It is possible to empirically distinguish an entity with free will from an entity that runs according to chance and necessity alone, while staying entirely within the methodology of modern science. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 12, 2019

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
free will, Quantum Mechanics, Sam Harris}

Why Do Atheists Still Claim Free Will Can’t Exist?

_{Sam Harris reduces everything to physics but then ignores quantum non-determinism} _{Eric Holloway

August 12, 2019

5

Philosophy of Mind}

A reader, listening to his podcast with computer scientist Judea Pearl, asks how he can be so sure everything is determined by physical forces. How indeed?

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 12, 2019

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Human exceptionalism, Macaques, Querius, soul, Transgenics}

Are Monkeys with Some Human Genes Partly Human?

_{If they are somewhat smarter than other macaques, do they have minds and souls?} _{Eric Holloway

August 12, 2019

6

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

In my ongoing dialogue with Querius, I say no; a human is not reducible to a handful of genes.