I am quite surprised that the NobAIl committee did not select ChatGPT‘s Sam Altman for their literature prize—since he made a reality of monkeys typing at random on a typewriter, hence bound to a.s. produce past and future masterpieces—, now betting on Twitter’s Dorsey, Williams and Stone for their peace prize— for achieving worldwide harmony if within each single-minded community in only 140 characters—, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos for their Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel—for produing the ultimate monopoly of a single worldwide convenience store—, given their picks for physics—with spin glass Ising models that have always sounded to me like the worst possible illustration for MCMC techniques— and chemistry—for a deep learning predictor of protein structures, built by large teams and numerous CPU hours, achieving high success rates if not perfection, but prediction is not explanation, reminding me of Nietzsche’s “physics, too, is only an interpretation and exegesis of the world (to suit us, if I may say so!) and not a world-explanation”—… Keeping their sharp focus on AI’s, corporate funded research, and male recipients… (As coïncidences come, I am currently reading a book of the literature 2024 Nobel recipient, Han Kang, The Vegetarian, that I find stunning and immensely original!)
Archive for Google
NobAIl prAIzes
Posted in Books, pictures, Travel, University life with tags AI, AlphaFold, Amazon, artificial intelligence, Boltzmann machines, Botlzman models, ChatGPT, Deep Mind, Friedrich Nietzsche, Google, Hopfield networks, Ising model, Markov random field, MCMC algorithms, neural network, Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize in Litterature, protein folding, South Korea, Stockholm, Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, Sweden, twitter, vegetarian diet on October 11, 2024 by xi'antruly and uniquely pseudo-random?
Posted in Books, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags AI writer, Austria, congruential generators, Die Hard, George Marsaglia, Google, lava lamp, PRNG, pseudo-random generator, Quick Creator, RNG, Scientific American, Sydney Harbour, van der Corput sequence on July 10, 2024 by xi'an
I came across a Web paper entitled The Impact of Google’s Random Number Generator on Accurate Results that I found most puzzling in failing to explain the specific nature of this random generator and that included gems as below
“PRNGs (…) outputs are inherently predictable given a specific seed value, thus deviating from true randomness”
or stating that linear congruential generators suffered from “discernible patterns”, or yet advancing a bonus in using Google’s generator for “leveraging Gaussian distributions”… Referring to a specific and possibly obscure arXival proposing to construct (yet) a PRNG by reinforced learning, with an objective function based on randomness tests reminded me of Marsaglia’s Die Hard. And to “true randomness”. Plus being repetitive and obsequious. Until I found the piece was “written” by Quthor with no typo, an AI “writer” powered by Quick Creator. I should have paid more attention to the level of nonsense…
On the same occurrence, I also read a recent Scientific American paper on randomness tests pseudo-random number generators by Christopher Lutsko. Which does not start that well, since it reproduces the Laplace démon’s argument that a die roll outcome is not random. Also repeating the above pleonasm that PRNGs are not random since they are deterministic. And failing to not mention lava generators! The core of the article is however about recent papers by the author and Niclas Technau of the only examples of sequences that prove passed extremely strong pseudorandom tests. They focus on tests based on gap distribution and pair correlation.
“The [gap distribution] measures the size of the gaps between the points, and the [pair correlation’ measures the clustering of the points—how much they group up or stay apart (…) If these agree with what we would expect from random data, we say that the gap distribution or pair correlation is “Poissonian”.” Christopher Lutsko
Along with Athanasios Sourmelidis, they proved that exponential sequences {α exp(θ log[n]) mod 1} have Poissonian pair correlation when θ<⅓, for any value of α. And higher Poissonian correlations for θ “smaller and smaller“. (This does not come out of the blue, as the proof relates to Van der Corput’s method of exponential sums, with links to the leading Austrian random generator community.) This is definitely an achievement. However, when θ gets “smaller and smaller“, the terms in the sequence grow more and more slowly, which forces calling for larger and larger values of α to make the generator useful. And the pseudo-randomness test based on Poissonian correlations is only one of many from the toolbox, so the debate seems far from over.
prediction by Google trends
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures with tags comics, Google, Google trends, solar cycle, webcomic, xkcd on July 9, 2024 by xi'an
Wikileech
Posted in University life with tags academia, Google, neutrality, NPOV, open source, scam, spam, spams, wikipedia on March 17, 2024 by xi'an
Another type of email hassling (or scam?), not asking for payment at this early stage for writing my Wikipedia page for me!, which is going against the rules of the platform:
My name is dah and I work with Wiki-blah, a Wikipedia page creation and management firm. In a quick Google search of your name, I discovered that you do not have a Wikipedia page.
Having a Wikipedia page shows the world that you have made remarkable contributions in your field. Moreover, it catalogues all of your important work in one place, making it easier for the reader to understand your work. Over 73% people searching for an academic on Google visit the academic’s Wikipedia page first and their official university page later. This underscores an important fact: the credibility of Wikipedia surpasses that of your official website. With over 3000 articles declined from Wikipedia everyday, it is not easy to get a Wikipedia page. However, we can make the process very easy for you. We have written Wikipedia pages for over a thousand academics. We can write one for you. For your assurance and safety, we don’t request any upfront payment.
Please send me a message if you would like to find out more about working with us.
And a second one came the day after, in a much more flowery style that omitted any mention of payment:
I trust this message finds you in great health and high spirits.
I’m dah, I am a part of a group of Wikipedia Administrators and Editors, driven by a passion for crafting impactful narratives. With over a decade of experience, our focus lies in assisting individuals and businesses like yours in establishing a lasting presence on Wikipedia, the world’s foremost information platform.
Have you ever considered having your accomplishments and contributions showcased on the influential stage of Wikipedia? I specialize in navigating the intricacies of Wikipedia’s guidelines, ensuring your story meets the stringent standards set by the platform. What sets our approach apart is the inherent resilience of entries created under the supervision of a Wikipedia Administrator – they stand stronger against scrutiny and time. We understand the unique challenges of getting pages published on Wikipedia. We have a proven track record of successfully guiding experts like yourself through the process. By collaborating, we can not only ensure the accurate portrayal of your journey but also secure its place in the annals of Wikipedia’s knowledge repository.
Understanding the complexities of Wikipedia’s communal editing and content standards can be daunting. This is where our expertise shines. As Wikipedia Administrators, we have the ability to guide your entry through the labyrinth of guidelines, maintaining the utmost standards of neutrality and credibility.
If you’re intrigued by the prospect of immortalizing your story on Wikipedia, I’m excited to explore this opportunity further. I’d be happy to share a recent success story or provide a testimonial upon your request. Feel free to reach out with any queries or curiosities you may have. Your achievements deserve a platform that resonates with millions of global readers.I would love to discuss this opportunity further at your earliest convenience. I look forward to potentially collaborating on this remarkable journey.
no [Google] play
Posted in Travel with tags British Columbia, bug, cellphone, Golden, Google, Google Play, vacations on September 14, 2023 by xi'an
