Yaniv Altshuler, CTO at Endor, addresses Jeff Dean's challenge regarding whether computation can replace machine learning expertise.
Insight
Altshuler: Deep learning is inadequate for predicting dynamic human behavior
“Deep learning requires a lot of data, relatively speaking, and therefore, by definition, cannot detect recent changes in the data, emerging patterns, ah, and therefore, it's, ah, really, really, ah, inadequate to predict human behavior that is, ah, actually do…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Altshuler: Mathematical invariances guaranteed in all structured human data
“There is a set of mathematical invariances that Are guaranteed to happen in any structured human data.”
Assertion Partly supported
Altshuler: Modern machine learning technologies were developed roughly 50 years ago
“All the technologies that we have today were developed around 50 years ago, plus minus a decade. Even deep learning that is so trendy today, it's basically very large neural networks. Concepts from the fifties matured around the seventies.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Altshuler: Endor can run predictive analytics on one week of data
“In addition, because we use social physics as a prior to the data, we can analyze data from very short periods of time. We don't need to analyze five years worth of data. In some cases, even one week is enough”
Assertion Contradicted
Endor outperformed nearly 1,000 teams on a Kaggle benchmark
“Almost a thousand teams participated. And they were given three months, and you can see that the team who won the first place after us, they submitted almost 200 models, so they actually worked pretty hard, and as you can see here, our accuracy is significantl…”
Opinion
Altshuler: Internal data science teams cannot be replaced by automated platforms
“I actually don't think this is the case because I think that nothing and no one can replace internal teams of data scientists and of analytics people because they are the only ones who are familiar with data and their business, and therefore they are the only …”