cfusting

Thanks!

Creative idea - I'll think about this.

Awesome idea!

The author miss-understands how simulated data is created by GANS, VAEs, and other non-physics based simulations. Let's say you have a dataset and would like to create synthetic data using it and a GAN. Then you wish to estimate the distribution D of the data with a GAN. To do so the GAN learns the joint distribution P(X1, X2, ..., Xn) (where in the image case each X is usually a pixel) such that one may sample from D and obtain a new, synthetic image. Indeed, one will generate novel data but the distribution D that was estimated is merely a description of the original data at best and in practice a little bit (or a lot) off.

Now turn to the machine learning problem we sought to solve with the new synthetic data: what is the P(y|X1, X2, ..., Xn) where y is usually a class like "bird". In other words given an image predict its label. Since the data was generated knowing only the statistics of the original data, it can add no value beyond plausible examples developed using the original data itself.

Will this improve the accuracy of a model by providing additional edge case examples and filling in gaps? Somewhat. Will it understand data not represented by the original data and substitute for more thorough, diverse datasets? Absolutely not.

In terms of model improvement, yes synthetic data can help. In terms of the arms race? No. True examples provide knowledge that is unique. If one used a physics engine (GTA is popular for self-drivings cars) one can gather truly novel data; this is not the case for GANS.

It's concerning how willing people are to write articles on this subject without understanding the mathematics underlying the technology.

Do your homework and RTFM.

We'd all be happier writing math; writing code is just a nuisance.

It's just about package support and the community. If researchers and practitioners were choosing a language based on merit alone it would probably be Julia for native speed and support for scientific computing. It's nice to have a toy language you appreciate but recall the goal is to write math into algorithms; the language is just tool.

Ditto. I didn't realize people were getting picked up enough by the authorities to merit building a Windows clone.

The choice of language usually comes down to the packages. In any of the three aforementioned languages one can easily and quickly manipulate matrices short of an unwillingness to learn. Julia is nice because it's fast with native code. Python is nice because of Scipy. Matlab is nice because it decides how to spend your money without cause.

I'm an AI researcher / practitioner. For me code accompanying papers is very useful and usually this code is in Python. Occasionally it's Matlab but let's be honest, who cares about those papers :). I'd love to use Julia but the package support just isn't there. Ironically people like me are supposed to be writing this code but with a demanding job and a family it's not likely I will be improving their DataFrame effort anytime soon.

Anyway the MAIN reason I use open source software is because if it isn't working correctly I simply fix the code myself. This isn't possible in the proprietary world. Why would you trust your research or production work with code you can't see and edit?

There's been a lot of talk about documentation. Docs are secondary sources, like WIRED, read the code if you're serious about being correct. Even (especially) hired hands make mistakes and fail to write good tests.

This article reminded me of the fictional Simpson's news article "Old Man Yells at Cloud". It's funny, and he may have a point, but it has no relevance.

What kind of flipping are you talking about? I can transpose a matrix in numpy with X.T. What is cumbersome about this?

When I was in my early twenties I had some amazing experiences that prompted me to ask the question, "if I died today, would I be ok with it?". I'm thirty five now and no matter how hard a day has been I have always been able to answer "yes".

Often the journey is hard, really hard, but if you are moving in a direction you are excited about and being true to yourself it's ok.

There is no success, there is no winning, there is only your own comfort when the lights turn off forever.

That's not to say you can't have financial success and career satisfaction. It's just to say that those things won't give you the freedom to die.

set -o vi.

I suffered from panic attacks throughout my 20's. Recently I went to a cognitive behavioral therapist who guided me through a hyperventilation technique to simulate the physical symptoms of a panic attack. The results are amazing: practicing this technique three or so times a week for a month completely rid me of panic attacks. I recently was feeling stressed about a work trip and "tuned up" the night before by going through a session and had no issues.

The therapist said this cures 99% of patients. The "golden feather" in a CBT therapist's hat.

The technique:

Sitting down, as rapidly as you can, take a deep breath in and blow it out. Do this 40 times. Blow out all your air and hold your breath for as long as you can (1 - 2 minutes for me, stop when you start to get convulsions or you may pass out). During this time observe your tingling hands, light headed feeling, sweaty palms etc. This is a normal result of an excess of oxygen in your body. It cannot hurt you. Now take a deep breath and hold it for 15-20 seconds. Start immediately and repeat two more times for a total of three. Repeat three times a week for a month. If you start to feel panic more often, start your treatment again (this is rarely necessary).

The first time will be the scariest. After that it gets MUCH easier I promise. It may be helpful to see a CBT therapist to talk you through it the first time. It will change your life.

That technique coupled with a mild anti anxiety medication has completely feed me of anxiety and panic.

I hope this helps others :)

That's funny, I've been following my passions and now I'm a data scientist.

I can split my friends into two groups: those that followed their passions and are happy, and those that did not and have loans for silly things, egos that depend on their career, and a consistent need for validation by society.

Following your passion isn't about instant gratification, perhaps people are disappointed by this.

Probability and stochastics by Erhan Cinlar is a modern, measure theoretic approach to probability.