edit

The Great AI Fallacy

$$\newcommand{\tk}[1]{} \newcommand{\Amatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\KL}[2]{\text{KL}\left( #1\,\|\,#2 \right)} \newcommand{\Kaast}{\kernelMatrix_{\mathbf{ \ast}\mathbf{ \ast}}} \newcommand{\Kastu}{\kernelMatrix_{\mathbf{ \ast} \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kff}{\kernelMatrix_{\mappingFunctionVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\Kfu}{\kernelMatrix_{\mappingFunctionVector \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kuast}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \bf\ast}} \newcommand{\Kuf}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\Kuu}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kuui}{\Kuu^{-1}} \newcommand{\Qaast}{\mathbf{Q}_{\bf \ast \ast}} \newcommand{\Qastf}{\mathbf{Q}_{\ast \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\Qfast}{\mathbf{Q}_{\mappingFunctionVector \bf \ast}} \newcommand{\Qff}{\mathbf{Q}_{\mappingFunctionVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\aMatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\aScalar}{a} \newcommand{\aVector}{\mathbf{a}} \newcommand{\acceleration}{a} \newcommand{\bMatrix}{\mathbf{B}} \newcommand{\bScalar}{b} \newcommand{\bVector}{\mathbf{b}} \newcommand{\basisFunc}{\phi} \newcommand{\basisFuncVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunc}} \newcommand{\basisFunction}{\phi} \newcommand{\basisLocation}{\mu} \newcommand{\basisMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}} \newcommand{\basisScalar}{\basisFunction} \newcommand{\basisVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunction}} \newcommand{\activationFunction}{\phi} \newcommand{\activationMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}} \newcommand{\activationScalar}{\basisFunction} \newcommand{\activationVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunction}} \newcommand{\bigO}{\mathcal{O}} \newcommand{\binomProb}{\pi} \newcommand{\cMatrix}{\mathbf{C}} \newcommand{\cbasisMatrix}{\hat{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}}} \newcommand{\cdataMatrix}{\hat{\dataMatrix}} \newcommand{\cdataScalar}{\hat{\dataScalar}} \newcommand{\cdataVector}{\hat{\dataVector}} \newcommand{\centeredKernelMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\centeredKernelScalar}}} \newcommand{\centeredKernelScalar}{b} \newcommand{\centeredKernelVector}{\centeredKernelScalar} \newcommand{\centeringMatrix}{\mathbf{H}} \newcommand{\chiSquaredDist}[2]{\chi_{#1}^{2}\left(#2\right)} \newcommand{\chiSquaredSamp}[1]{\chi_{#1}^{2}} \newcommand{\conditionalCovariance}{\boldsymbol{ \Sigma}} \newcommand{\coregionalizationMatrix}{\mathbf{B}} \newcommand{\coregionalizationScalar}{b} \newcommand{\coregionalizationVector}{\mathbf{ \coregionalizationScalar}} \newcommand{\covDist}[2]{\text{cov}_{#2}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\covSamp}[1]{\text{cov}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\covarianceScalar}{c} \newcommand{\covarianceVector}{\mathbf{ \covarianceScalar}} \newcommand{\covarianceMatrix}{\mathbf{C}} \newcommand{\covarianceMatrixTwo}{\boldsymbol{ \Sigma}} \newcommand{\croupierScalar}{s} \newcommand{\croupierVector}{\mathbf{ \croupierScalar}} \newcommand{\croupierMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\croupierScalar}}} \newcommand{\dataDim}{p} \newcommand{\dataIndex}{i} \newcommand{\dataIndexTwo}{j} \newcommand{\dataMatrix}{\mathbf{Y}} \newcommand{\dataScalar}{y} \newcommand{\dataSet}{\mathcal{D}} \newcommand{\dataStd}{\sigma} \newcommand{\dataVector}{\mathbf{ \dataScalar}} \newcommand{\decayRate}{d} \newcommand{\degreeMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\degreeScalar}}} \newcommand{\degreeScalar}{d} \newcommand{\degreeVector}{\mathbf{ \degreeScalar}} \newcommand{\diag}[1]{\text{diag}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\diagonalMatrix}{\mathbf{D}} \newcommand{\diff}[2]{\frac{\text{d}#1}{\text{d}#2}} \newcommand{\diffTwo}[2]{\frac{\text{d}^2#1}{\text{d}#2^2}} \newcommand{\displacement}{x} \newcommand{\displacementVector}{\textbf{\displacement}} \newcommand{\distanceMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\distanceScalar}}} \newcommand{\distanceScalar}{d} \newcommand{\distanceVector}{\mathbf{ \distanceScalar}} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwo}{\ell} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwoMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwoVector}{\mathbf{l}} \newcommand{\eigenvalue}{\lambda} \newcommand{\eigenvalueMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Lambda}} \newcommand{\eigenvalueVector}{\boldsymbol{ \lambda}} \newcommand{\eigenvector}{\mathbf{ \eigenvectorScalar}} \newcommand{\eigenvectorMatrix}{\mathbf{U}} \newcommand{\eigenvectorScalar}{u} \newcommand{\eigenvectwo}{\mathbf{v}} \newcommand{\eigenvectwoMatrix}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\eigenvectwoScalar}{v} \newcommand{\entropy}[1]{\mathcal{H}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\errorFunction}{E} \newcommand{\expDist}[2]{\left\langle#1\right\rangle_{#2}} \newcommand{\expSamp}[1]{\left\langle#1\right\rangle} \newcommand{\expectation}[1]{\left\langle #1 \right\rangle } \newcommand{\expectationDist}[2]{\left\langle #1 \right\rangle _{#2}} \newcommand{\expectedDistanceMatrix}{\mathcal{D}} \newcommand{\eye}{\mathbf{I}} \newcommand{\fantasyDim}{r} \newcommand{\fantasyMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\fantasyScalar}}} \newcommand{\fantasyScalar}{z} \newcommand{\fantasyVector}{\mathbf{ \fantasyScalar}} \newcommand{\featureStd}{\varsigma} \newcommand{\gammaCdf}[3]{\mathcal{GAMMA CDF}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gammaDist}[3]{\mathcal{G}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gammaSamp}[2]{\mathcal{G}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\gaussianDist}[3]{\mathcal{N}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gaussianSamp}[2]{\mathcal{N}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\uniformDist}[3]{\mathcal{U}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\uniformSamp}[2]{\mathcal{U}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\given}{|} \newcommand{\half}{\frac{1}{2}} \newcommand{\heaviside}{H} \newcommand{\hiddenMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\hiddenScalar}}} \newcommand{\hiddenScalar}{h} \newcommand{\hiddenVector}{\mathbf{ \hiddenScalar}} \newcommand{\identityMatrix}{\eye} \newcommand{\inducingInputScalar}{z} \newcommand{\inducingInputVector}{\mathbf{ \inducingInputScalar}} \newcommand{\inducingInputMatrix}{\mathbf{Z}} \newcommand{\inducingScalar}{u} \newcommand{\inducingVector}{\mathbf{ \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\inducingMatrix}{\mathbf{U}} \newcommand{\inlineDiff}[2]{\text{d}#1/\text{d}#2} \newcommand{\inputDim}{q} \newcommand{\inputMatrix}{\mathbf{X}} \newcommand{\inputScalar}{x} \newcommand{\inputSpace}{\mathcal{X}} \newcommand{\inputVals}{\inputVector} \newcommand{\inputVector}{\mathbf{ \inputScalar}} \newcommand{\iterNum}{k} \newcommand{\kernel}{\kernelScalar} \newcommand{\kernelMatrix}{\mathbf{K}} \newcommand{\kernelScalar}{k} \newcommand{\kernelVector}{\mathbf{ \kernelScalar}} \newcommand{\kff}{\kernelScalar_{\mappingFunction \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\kfu}{\kernelVector_{\mappingFunction \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\kuf}{\kernelVector_{\inducingScalar \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\kuu}{\kernelVector_{\inducingScalar \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\lagrangeMultiplier}{\lambda} \newcommand{\lagrangeMultiplierMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Lambda}} \newcommand{\lagrangian}{L} \newcommand{\laplacianFactor}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\laplacianFactorScalar}}} \newcommand{\laplacianFactorScalar}{m} \newcommand{\laplacianFactorVector}{\mathbf{ \laplacianFactorScalar}} \newcommand{\laplacianMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\laplacianScalar}{\ell} \newcommand{\laplacianVector}{\mathbf{ \ell}} \newcommand{\latentDim}{q} \newcommand{\latentDistanceMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Delta}} \newcommand{\latentDistanceScalar}{\delta} \newcommand{\latentDistanceVector}{\boldsymbol{ \delta}} \newcommand{\latentForce}{f} \newcommand{\latentFunction}{u} \newcommand{\latentFunctionVector}{\mathbf{ \latentFunction}} \newcommand{\latentFunctionMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\latentFunction}}} \newcommand{\latentIndex}{j} \newcommand{\latentScalar}{z} \newcommand{\latentVector}{\mathbf{ \latentScalar}} \newcommand{\latentMatrix}{\mathbf{Z}} \newcommand{\learnRate}{\eta} \newcommand{\lengthScale}{\ell} \newcommand{\rbfWidth}{\ell} \newcommand{\likelihoodBound}{\mathcal{L}} \newcommand{\likelihoodFunction}{L} \newcommand{\locationScalar}{\mu} \newcommand{\locationVector}{\boldsymbol{ \locationScalar}} \newcommand{\locationMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\variance}[1]{\text{var}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\mappingFunction}{f} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionMatrix}{\mathbf{F}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwo}{g} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwoMatrix}{\mathbf{G}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwoVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingFunctionTwo}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\scaleScalar}{s} \newcommand{\mappingScalar}{w} \newcommand{\mappingVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingScalar}} \newcommand{\mappingMatrix}{\mathbf{W}} \newcommand{\mappingScalarTwo}{v} \newcommand{\mappingVectorTwo}{\mathbf{ \mappingScalarTwo}} \newcommand{\mappingMatrixTwo}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\maxIters}{K} \newcommand{\meanMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\meanScalar}{\mu} \newcommand{\meanTwoMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\meanTwoScalar}{m} \newcommand{\meanTwoVector}{\mathbf{ \meanTwoScalar}} \newcommand{\meanVector}{\boldsymbol{ \meanScalar}} \newcommand{\mrnaConcentration}{m} \newcommand{\naturalFrequency}{\omega} \newcommand{\neighborhood}[1]{\mathcal{N}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\neilurl}{http://inverseprobability.com/} \newcommand{\noiseMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ E}} \newcommand{\noiseScalar}{\epsilon} \newcommand{\noiseVector}{\boldsymbol{ \epsilon}} \newcommand{\noiseStd}{\sigma} \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianMatrix}{\hat{\mathbf{L}}} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianScalar}{\hat{\ell}} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianVector}{\hat{\mathbf{ \ell}}} \newcommand{\numActive}{m} \newcommand{\numBasisFunc}{m} \newcommand{\numComponents}{m} \newcommand{\numComps}{K} \newcommand{\numData}{n} \newcommand{\numFeatures}{K} \newcommand{\numHidden}{h} \newcommand{\numInducing}{m} \newcommand{\numLayers}{\ell} \newcommand{\numNeighbors}{K} \newcommand{\numSequences}{s} \newcommand{\numSuccess}{s} \newcommand{\numTasks}{m} \newcommand{\numTime}{T} \newcommand{\numTrials}{S} \newcommand{\outputIndex}{j} \newcommand{\paramVector}{\boldsymbol{ \theta}} \newcommand{\parameterMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Theta}} \newcommand{\parameterScalar}{\theta} \newcommand{\parameterVector}{\boldsymbol{ \parameterScalar}} \newcommand{\partDiff}[2]{\frac{\partial#1}{\partial#2}} \newcommand{\precisionScalar}{j} \newcommand{\precisionVector}{\mathbf{ \precisionScalar}} \newcommand{\precisionMatrix}{\mathbf{J}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetScalar}{\widetilde{y}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetVector}{\mathbf{ \pseudotargetScalar}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetMatrix}{\mathbf{ \widetilde{Y}}} \newcommand{\rank}[1]{\text{rank}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\rayleighDist}[2]{\mathcal{R}\left(#1|#2\right)} \newcommand{\rayleighSamp}[1]{\mathcal{R}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\responsibility}{r} \newcommand{\rotationScalar}{r} \newcommand{\rotationVector}{\mathbf{ \rotationScalar}} \newcommand{\rotationMatrix}{\mathbf{R}} \newcommand{\sampleCovScalar}{s} \newcommand{\sampleCovVector}{\mathbf{ \sampleCovScalar}} \newcommand{\sampleCovMatrix}{\mathbf{s}} \newcommand{\scalarProduct}[2]{\left\langle{#1},{#2}\right\rangle} \newcommand{\sign}[1]{\text{sign}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\sigmoid}[1]{\sigma\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\singularvalue}{\ell} \newcommand{\singularvalueMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\singularvalueVector}{\mathbf{l}} \newcommand{\sorth}{\mathbf{u}} \newcommand{\spar}{\lambda} \newcommand{\trace}[1]{\text{tr}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\BasalRate}{B} \newcommand{\DampingCoefficient}{C} \newcommand{\DecayRate}{D} \newcommand{\Displacement}{X} \newcommand{\LatentForce}{F} \newcommand{\Mass}{M} \newcommand{\Sensitivity}{S} \newcommand{\basalRate}{b} \newcommand{\dampingCoefficient}{c} \newcommand{\mass}{m} \newcommand{\sensitivity}{s} \newcommand{\springScalar}{\kappa} \newcommand{\springVector}{\boldsymbol{ \kappa}} \newcommand{\springMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \mathcal{K}}} \newcommand{\tfConcentration}{p} \newcommand{\tfDecayRate}{\delta} \newcommand{\tfMrnaConcentration}{f} \newcommand{\tfVector}{\mathbf{ \tfConcentration}} \newcommand{\velocity}{v} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsScalar}{g} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsVector}{\mathbf{ \sufficientStatsScalar}} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsMatrix}{\mathbf{G}} \newcommand{\switchScalar}{s} \newcommand{\switchVector}{\mathbf{ \switchScalar}} \newcommand{\switchMatrix}{\mathbf{S}} \newcommand{\tr}[1]{\text{tr}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\loneNorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert_1} \newcommand{\ltwoNorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert_2} \newcommand{\onenorm}[1]{\left\vert#1\right\vert_1} \newcommand{\twonorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert} \newcommand{\vScalar}{v} \newcommand{\vVector}{\mathbf{v}} \newcommand{\vMatrix}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\varianceDist}[2]{\text{var}_{#2}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\vecb}[1]{\left(#1\right):} \newcommand{\weightScalar}{w} \newcommand{\weightVector}{\mathbf{ \weightScalar}} \newcommand{\weightMatrix}{\mathbf{W}} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyMatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyScalar}{a} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyVector}{\mathbf{ \weightedAdjacencyScalar}} \newcommand{\onesVector}{\mathbf{1}} \newcommand{\zerosVector}{\mathbf{0}} $$
at Webinar for The Cambridge Network on Apr 21, 2020 [reveal]
Neil D. Lawrence, University of Cambridge

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is a form of intellectual automation. The promise of artificial intelligence is that it will be the first generation of automation that adapts to humans, rather than humans having to adapt to it. I see no evidence that this is true, but this fallacy is having very real effects on the way we think about creating and deploying artificial intelligence solutions. In this talk I introduce the Great AI Fallacy and discuss strategies for deployment that pre-emptively deal with the problems it will trigger.

$$\newcommand{\tk}[1]{} \newcommand{\Amatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\KL}[2]{\text{KL}\left( #1\,\|\,#2 \right)} \newcommand{\Kaast}{\kernelMatrix_{\mathbf{ \ast}\mathbf{ \ast}}} \newcommand{\Kastu}{\kernelMatrix_{\mathbf{ \ast} \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kff}{\kernelMatrix_{\mappingFunctionVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\Kfu}{\kernelMatrix_{\mappingFunctionVector \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kuast}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \bf\ast}} \newcommand{\Kuf}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\Kuu}{\kernelMatrix_{\inducingVector \inducingVector}} \newcommand{\Kuui}{\Kuu^{-1}} \newcommand{\Qaast}{\mathbf{Q}_{\bf \ast \ast}} \newcommand{\Qastf}{\mathbf{Q}_{\ast \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\Qfast}{\mathbf{Q}_{\mappingFunctionVector \bf \ast}} \newcommand{\Qff}{\mathbf{Q}_{\mappingFunctionVector \mappingFunctionVector}} \newcommand{\aMatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\aScalar}{a} \newcommand{\aVector}{\mathbf{a}} \newcommand{\acceleration}{a} \newcommand{\bMatrix}{\mathbf{B}} \newcommand{\bScalar}{b} \newcommand{\bVector}{\mathbf{b}} \newcommand{\basisFunc}{\phi} \newcommand{\basisFuncVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunc}} \newcommand{\basisFunction}{\phi} \newcommand{\basisLocation}{\mu} \newcommand{\basisMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}} \newcommand{\basisScalar}{\basisFunction} \newcommand{\basisVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunction}} \newcommand{\activationFunction}{\phi} \newcommand{\activationMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}} \newcommand{\activationScalar}{\basisFunction} \newcommand{\activationVector}{\boldsymbol{ \basisFunction}} \newcommand{\bigO}{\mathcal{O}} \newcommand{\binomProb}{\pi} \newcommand{\cMatrix}{\mathbf{C}} \newcommand{\cbasisMatrix}{\hat{\boldsymbol{ \Phi}}} \newcommand{\cdataMatrix}{\hat{\dataMatrix}} \newcommand{\cdataScalar}{\hat{\dataScalar}} \newcommand{\cdataVector}{\hat{\dataVector}} \newcommand{\centeredKernelMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\centeredKernelScalar}}} \newcommand{\centeredKernelScalar}{b} \newcommand{\centeredKernelVector}{\centeredKernelScalar} \newcommand{\centeringMatrix}{\mathbf{H}} \newcommand{\chiSquaredDist}[2]{\chi_{#1}^{2}\left(#2\right)} \newcommand{\chiSquaredSamp}[1]{\chi_{#1}^{2}} \newcommand{\conditionalCovariance}{\boldsymbol{ \Sigma}} \newcommand{\coregionalizationMatrix}{\mathbf{B}} \newcommand{\coregionalizationScalar}{b} \newcommand{\coregionalizationVector}{\mathbf{ \coregionalizationScalar}} \newcommand{\covDist}[2]{\text{cov}_{#2}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\covSamp}[1]{\text{cov}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\covarianceScalar}{c} \newcommand{\covarianceVector}{\mathbf{ \covarianceScalar}} \newcommand{\covarianceMatrix}{\mathbf{C}} \newcommand{\covarianceMatrixTwo}{\boldsymbol{ \Sigma}} \newcommand{\croupierScalar}{s} \newcommand{\croupierVector}{\mathbf{ \croupierScalar}} \newcommand{\croupierMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\croupierScalar}}} \newcommand{\dataDim}{p} \newcommand{\dataIndex}{i} \newcommand{\dataIndexTwo}{j} \newcommand{\dataMatrix}{\mathbf{Y}} \newcommand{\dataScalar}{y} \newcommand{\dataSet}{\mathcal{D}} \newcommand{\dataStd}{\sigma} \newcommand{\dataVector}{\mathbf{ \dataScalar}} \newcommand{\decayRate}{d} \newcommand{\degreeMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\degreeScalar}}} \newcommand{\degreeScalar}{d} \newcommand{\degreeVector}{\mathbf{ \degreeScalar}} \newcommand{\diag}[1]{\text{diag}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\diagonalMatrix}{\mathbf{D}} \newcommand{\diff}[2]{\frac{\text{d}#1}{\text{d}#2}} \newcommand{\diffTwo}[2]{\frac{\text{d}^2#1}{\text{d}#2^2}} \newcommand{\displacement}{x} \newcommand{\displacementVector}{\textbf{\displacement}} \newcommand{\distanceMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\distanceScalar}}} \newcommand{\distanceScalar}{d} \newcommand{\distanceVector}{\mathbf{ \distanceScalar}} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwo}{\ell} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwoMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\eigenvaltwoVector}{\mathbf{l}} \newcommand{\eigenvalue}{\lambda} \newcommand{\eigenvalueMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Lambda}} \newcommand{\eigenvalueVector}{\boldsymbol{ \lambda}} \newcommand{\eigenvector}{\mathbf{ \eigenvectorScalar}} \newcommand{\eigenvectorMatrix}{\mathbf{U}} \newcommand{\eigenvectorScalar}{u} \newcommand{\eigenvectwo}{\mathbf{v}} \newcommand{\eigenvectwoMatrix}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\eigenvectwoScalar}{v} \newcommand{\entropy}[1]{\mathcal{H}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\errorFunction}{E} \newcommand{\expDist}[2]{\left\langle#1\right\rangle_{#2}} \newcommand{\expSamp}[1]{\left\langle#1\right\rangle} \newcommand{\expectation}[1]{\left\langle #1 \right\rangle } \newcommand{\expectationDist}[2]{\left\langle #1 \right\rangle _{#2}} \newcommand{\expectedDistanceMatrix}{\mathcal{D}} \newcommand{\eye}{\mathbf{I}} \newcommand{\fantasyDim}{r} \newcommand{\fantasyMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\fantasyScalar}}} \newcommand{\fantasyScalar}{z} \newcommand{\fantasyVector}{\mathbf{ \fantasyScalar}} \newcommand{\featureStd}{\varsigma} \newcommand{\gammaCdf}[3]{\mathcal{GAMMA CDF}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gammaDist}[3]{\mathcal{G}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gammaSamp}[2]{\mathcal{G}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\gaussianDist}[3]{\mathcal{N}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\gaussianSamp}[2]{\mathcal{N}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\uniformDist}[3]{\mathcal{U}\left(#1|#2,#3\right)} \newcommand{\uniformSamp}[2]{\mathcal{U}\left(#1,#2\right)} \newcommand{\given}{|} \newcommand{\half}{\frac{1}{2}} \newcommand{\heaviside}{H} \newcommand{\hiddenMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\hiddenScalar}}} \newcommand{\hiddenScalar}{h} \newcommand{\hiddenVector}{\mathbf{ \hiddenScalar}} \newcommand{\identityMatrix}{\eye} \newcommand{\inducingInputScalar}{z} \newcommand{\inducingInputVector}{\mathbf{ \inducingInputScalar}} \newcommand{\inducingInputMatrix}{\mathbf{Z}} \newcommand{\inducingScalar}{u} \newcommand{\inducingVector}{\mathbf{ \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\inducingMatrix}{\mathbf{U}} \newcommand{\inlineDiff}[2]{\text{d}#1/\text{d}#2} \newcommand{\inputDim}{q} \newcommand{\inputMatrix}{\mathbf{X}} \newcommand{\inputScalar}{x} \newcommand{\inputSpace}{\mathcal{X}} \newcommand{\inputVals}{\inputVector} \newcommand{\inputVector}{\mathbf{ \inputScalar}} \newcommand{\iterNum}{k} \newcommand{\kernel}{\kernelScalar} \newcommand{\kernelMatrix}{\mathbf{K}} \newcommand{\kernelScalar}{k} \newcommand{\kernelVector}{\mathbf{ \kernelScalar}} \newcommand{\kff}{\kernelScalar_{\mappingFunction \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\kfu}{\kernelVector_{\mappingFunction \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\kuf}{\kernelVector_{\inducingScalar \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\kuu}{\kernelVector_{\inducingScalar \inducingScalar}} \newcommand{\lagrangeMultiplier}{\lambda} \newcommand{\lagrangeMultiplierMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Lambda}} \newcommand{\lagrangian}{L} \newcommand{\laplacianFactor}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\laplacianFactorScalar}}} \newcommand{\laplacianFactorScalar}{m} \newcommand{\laplacianFactorVector}{\mathbf{ \laplacianFactorScalar}} \newcommand{\laplacianMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\laplacianScalar}{\ell} \newcommand{\laplacianVector}{\mathbf{ \ell}} \newcommand{\latentDim}{q} \newcommand{\latentDistanceMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Delta}} \newcommand{\latentDistanceScalar}{\delta} \newcommand{\latentDistanceVector}{\boldsymbol{ \delta}} \newcommand{\latentForce}{f} \newcommand{\latentFunction}{u} \newcommand{\latentFunctionVector}{\mathbf{ \latentFunction}} \newcommand{\latentFunctionMatrix}{\mathbf{ \MakeUppercase{\latentFunction}}} \newcommand{\latentIndex}{j} \newcommand{\latentScalar}{z} \newcommand{\latentVector}{\mathbf{ \latentScalar}} \newcommand{\latentMatrix}{\mathbf{Z}} \newcommand{\learnRate}{\eta} \newcommand{\lengthScale}{\ell} \newcommand{\rbfWidth}{\ell} \newcommand{\likelihoodBound}{\mathcal{L}} \newcommand{\likelihoodFunction}{L} \newcommand{\locationScalar}{\mu} \newcommand{\locationVector}{\boldsymbol{ \locationScalar}} \newcommand{\locationMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\variance}[1]{\text{var}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\mappingFunction}{f} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionMatrix}{\mathbf{F}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwo}{g} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwoMatrix}{\mathbf{G}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionTwoVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingFunctionTwo}} \newcommand{\mappingFunctionVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingFunction}} \newcommand{\scaleScalar}{s} \newcommand{\mappingScalar}{w} \newcommand{\mappingVector}{\mathbf{ \mappingScalar}} \newcommand{\mappingMatrix}{\mathbf{W}} \newcommand{\mappingScalarTwo}{v} \newcommand{\mappingVectorTwo}{\mathbf{ \mappingScalarTwo}} \newcommand{\mappingMatrixTwo}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\maxIters}{K} \newcommand{\meanMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\meanScalar}{\mu} \newcommand{\meanTwoMatrix}{\mathbf{M}} \newcommand{\meanTwoScalar}{m} \newcommand{\meanTwoVector}{\mathbf{ \meanTwoScalar}} \newcommand{\meanVector}{\boldsymbol{ \meanScalar}} \newcommand{\mrnaConcentration}{m} \newcommand{\naturalFrequency}{\omega} \newcommand{\neighborhood}[1]{\mathcal{N}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\neilurl}{http://inverseprobability.com/} \newcommand{\noiseMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ E}} \newcommand{\noiseScalar}{\epsilon} \newcommand{\noiseVector}{\boldsymbol{ \epsilon}} \newcommand{\noiseStd}{\sigma} \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianMatrix}{\hat{\mathbf{L}}} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianScalar}{\hat{\ell}} \newcommand{\normalizedLaplacianVector}{\hat{\mathbf{ \ell}}} \newcommand{\numActive}{m} \newcommand{\numBasisFunc}{m} \newcommand{\numComponents}{m} \newcommand{\numComps}{K} \newcommand{\numData}{n} \newcommand{\numFeatures}{K} \newcommand{\numHidden}{h} \newcommand{\numInducing}{m} \newcommand{\numLayers}{\ell} \newcommand{\numNeighbors}{K} \newcommand{\numSequences}{s} \newcommand{\numSuccess}{s} \newcommand{\numTasks}{m} \newcommand{\numTime}{T} \newcommand{\numTrials}{S} \newcommand{\outputIndex}{j} \newcommand{\paramVector}{\boldsymbol{ \theta}} \newcommand{\parameterMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \Theta}} \newcommand{\parameterScalar}{\theta} \newcommand{\parameterVector}{\boldsymbol{ \parameterScalar}} \newcommand{\partDiff}[2]{\frac{\partial#1}{\partial#2}} \newcommand{\precisionScalar}{j} \newcommand{\precisionVector}{\mathbf{ \precisionScalar}} \newcommand{\precisionMatrix}{\mathbf{J}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetScalar}{\widetilde{y}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetVector}{\mathbf{ \pseudotargetScalar}} \newcommand{\pseudotargetMatrix}{\mathbf{ \widetilde{Y}}} \newcommand{\rank}[1]{\text{rank}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\rayleighDist}[2]{\mathcal{R}\left(#1|#2\right)} \newcommand{\rayleighSamp}[1]{\mathcal{R}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\responsibility}{r} \newcommand{\rotationScalar}{r} \newcommand{\rotationVector}{\mathbf{ \rotationScalar}} \newcommand{\rotationMatrix}{\mathbf{R}} \newcommand{\sampleCovScalar}{s} \newcommand{\sampleCovVector}{\mathbf{ \sampleCovScalar}} \newcommand{\sampleCovMatrix}{\mathbf{s}} \newcommand{\scalarProduct}[2]{\left\langle{#1},{#2}\right\rangle} \newcommand{\sign}[1]{\text{sign}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\sigmoid}[1]{\sigma\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\singularvalue}{\ell} \newcommand{\singularvalueMatrix}{\mathbf{L}} \newcommand{\singularvalueVector}{\mathbf{l}} \newcommand{\sorth}{\mathbf{u}} \newcommand{\spar}{\lambda} \newcommand{\trace}[1]{\text{tr}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\BasalRate}{B} \newcommand{\DampingCoefficient}{C} \newcommand{\DecayRate}{D} \newcommand{\Displacement}{X} \newcommand{\LatentForce}{F} \newcommand{\Mass}{M} \newcommand{\Sensitivity}{S} \newcommand{\basalRate}{b} \newcommand{\dampingCoefficient}{c} \newcommand{\mass}{m} \newcommand{\sensitivity}{s} \newcommand{\springScalar}{\kappa} \newcommand{\springVector}{\boldsymbol{ \kappa}} \newcommand{\springMatrix}{\boldsymbol{ \mathcal{K}}} \newcommand{\tfConcentration}{p} \newcommand{\tfDecayRate}{\delta} \newcommand{\tfMrnaConcentration}{f} \newcommand{\tfVector}{\mathbf{ \tfConcentration}} \newcommand{\velocity}{v} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsScalar}{g} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsVector}{\mathbf{ \sufficientStatsScalar}} \newcommand{\sufficientStatsMatrix}{\mathbf{G}} \newcommand{\switchScalar}{s} \newcommand{\switchVector}{\mathbf{ \switchScalar}} \newcommand{\switchMatrix}{\mathbf{S}} \newcommand{\tr}[1]{\text{tr}\left(#1\right)} \newcommand{\loneNorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert_1} \newcommand{\ltwoNorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert_2} \newcommand{\onenorm}[1]{\left\vert#1\right\vert_1} \newcommand{\twonorm}[1]{\left\Vert #1 \right\Vert} \newcommand{\vScalar}{v} \newcommand{\vVector}{\mathbf{v}} \newcommand{\vMatrix}{\mathbf{V}} \newcommand{\varianceDist}[2]{\text{var}_{#2}\left( #1 \right)} \newcommand{\vecb}[1]{\left(#1\right):} \newcommand{\weightScalar}{w} \newcommand{\weightVector}{\mathbf{ \weightScalar}} \newcommand{\weightMatrix}{\mathbf{W}} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyMatrix}{\mathbf{A}} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyScalar}{a} \newcommand{\weightedAdjacencyVector}{\mathbf{ \weightedAdjacencyScalar}} \newcommand{\onesVector}{\mathbf{1}} \newcommand{\zerosVector}{\mathbf{0}} $$

The Great AI Fallacy

There is a lot of variation in the use of the term artificial intelligence. I’m sometimes asked to define it, but depending on whether you’re speaking to a member of the public, a fellow machine learning researcher, or someone from the business community, the sense of the term differs.

However, underlying its use I’ve detected one disturbing trend. A trend I’m beginining to think of as “The Great AI Fallacy”.

The fallacy is associated with an implicit promise that is embedded in many statements about Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence, as it currently exists, is merely a form of automated decision making. The implicit promise of Artificial Intelligence is that it will be the first wave of automation where the machine adapts to the human, rather than the human adapting to the machine.

How else can we explain the suspension of sensible business judgment that is accompanying the hype surrounding AI?

This fallacy is particularly pernicious because there are serious benefits to society in deploying this new wave of data-driven automated decision making. But the AI Fallacy is causing us to suspend our calibrated skepticism that is needed to deploy these systems safely and efficiently.

The problem is compounded because many of the techniques that we’re speaking of were originally developed in academic laboratories in isolation from real-world deployment.

Figure: We seem to have fallen for a perspective on AI that suggests it will adapt to our schedule, rather in the manner of a 1930s manservant.

The Promise of AI [edit]

The promise of the fourth industrial revolution is that this wave of automation is the first wave of automation where the machines adapt to serve us rather than us adapting to serve the machine.

That promise will remain unfulfilled with our current approach to systems design.

The Centrifugal Governor [edit]

Figure: Centrifugal governor as held by “Science” on Holborn Viaduct

Boulton and Watt’s Steam Engine [edit]

Figure: Watt’s Steam Engine which made Steam Power Efficient and Practical.

James Watt’s steam engine contained an early machine learning device. In the same way that modern systems are component based, his engine was composed of components. One of which is a speed regulator sometimes known as Watt’s governor. The two balls in the center of the image, when spun fast, rise, and through a linkage mechanism.

The centrifugal governor was made famous by Boulton and Watt when it was deployed in the steam engine. Studying stability in the governor is the main subject of James Clerk Maxwell’s paper on the theoretical analysis of governors (Maxwell 1867). This paper is a founding paper of control theory. In an acknowledgment of its influence, Wiener used the name cybernetics to describe the field of control and communication in animals and the machine (Wiener 1948). Cybernetics is the Greek word for governor, which comes from the latin for helmsman.

A governor is one of the simplest artificial intelligence systems. It senses the speed of an engine, and acts to change the position of the valve on the engine to slow it down.

Although it’s a mechanical system a governor can be seen as automating a role that a human would have traditionally played. It is an early example of artificial intelligence.

The centrifugal governor has several parameters, the weight of the balls used, the length of the linkages and the limits on the balls movement.

Two principle differences exist between the centrifugal governor and artificial intelligence systems of today.

  1. The centrifugal governor is a physical system and it is an integral part of a wider physical system that it regulates (the engine).
  2. The parameters of the governor were set by hand, our modern artificial intelligence systems have their parameters set by data.

Figure: The centrifugal governor, an early example of a decision making system. The parameters of the governor include the lengths of the linkages (which effect how far the throttle opens in response to movement in the balls), the weight of the balls (which effects inertia) and the limits of to which the balls can rise.

This has the basic components of sense and act that we expect in an intelligent system, and this system saved the need for a human operator to manually adjust the system in the case of overspeed. Overspeed has the potential to destroy an engine, so the governor operates as a safety device.

The first wave of automation did bring about sabotoage as a worker’s response. But if machinery was sabotaged, for example, if the linkage between sensor (the spinning balls) and action (the valve closure) was broken, this would be obvious to the engine operator at start up time. The machine could be repaired before operation.

Embodiment Factors [edit]

bits/min billions 2000 6
billion
calculations/s
~100 a billion a billion
embodiment 20 minutes 5 billion years 15 trillion years

Figure: Embodiment factors are the ratio between our ability to compute and our ability to communicate. Jean Dominique Bauby suffered from locked-in syndrome. The embodiment factors show that relative to the machine we are also locked in. In the table we represent embodiment as the length of time it would take to communicate one second’s worth of computation. For computers it is a matter of minutes, but for a human, whether locked in or not, it is a matter of many millions of years.

Let me explain what I mean. Claude Shannon introduced a mathematical concept of information for the purposes of understanding telephone exchanges.

Information has many meanings, but mathematically, Shannon defined a bit of information to be the amount of information you get from tossing a coin.

If I toss a coin, and look at it, I know the answer. You don’t. But if I now tell you the answer I communicate to you 1 bit of information. Shannon defined this as the fundamental unit of information.

If I toss the coin twice, and tell you the result of both tosses, I give you two bits of information. Information is additive.

Shannon also estimated the average information associated with the English language. He estimated that the average information in any word is 12 bits, equivalent to twelve coin tosses.

So every two minutes Bauby was able to communicate 12 bits, or six bits per minute.

This is the information transfer rate he was limited to, the rate at which he could communicate.

Compare this to me, talking now. The average speaker for TEDX speaks around 160 words per minute. That’s 320 times faster than Bauby or around a 2000 bits per minute. 2000 coin tosses per minute.

But, just think how much thought Bauby was putting into every sentence. Imagine how carefully chosen each of his words was. Because he was communication constrained he could put more thought into each of his words. Into thinking about his audience.

So, his intelligence became locked in. He thinks as fast as any of us, but can communicate slower. Like the tree falling in the woods with no one there to hear it, his intelligence is embedded inside him.

Two thousand coin tosses per minute sounds pretty impressive, but this talk is not just about us, it’s about our computers, and the type of intelligence we are creating within them.

So how does two thousand compare to our digital companions? When computers talk to each other, they do so with billions of coin tosses per minute.

Let’s imagine for a moment, that instead of talking about communication of information, we are actually talking about money. Bauby would have 6 dollars. I would have 2000 dollars, and my computer has billions of dollars.

The internet has interconnected computers and equipped them with extremely high transfer rates.

However, by our very best estimates, computers actually think slower than us.

How can that be? You might ask, computers calculate much faster than me. That’s true, but underlying your conscious thoughts there are a lot of calculations going on.

Each thought involves many thousands, millions or billions of calculations. How many exactly, we don’t know yet, because we don’t know how the brain turns calculations into thoughts.

Our best estimates suggest that to simulate your brain a computer would have to be as large as the UK Met Office machine here in Exeter. That’s a 250 million pound machine, the fastest in the UK. It can do 16 billion billon calculations per second.

It simulates the weather across the word every day, that’s how much power we think we need to simulate our brains.

So, in terms of our computational power we are extraordinary, but in terms of our ability to explain ourselves, just like Bauby, we are locked in.

For a typical computer, to communicate everything it computes in one second, it would only take it a couple of minutes. For us to do the same would take 15 billion years.

If intelligence is fundamentally about processing and sharing of information. This gives us a fundamental constraint on human intelligence that dictates its nature.

I call this ratio between the time it takes to compute something, and the time it takes to say it, the embodiment factor (Lawrence 2017). Because it reflects how embodied our cognition is.

If it takes you two minutes to say the thing you have thought in a second, then you are a computer. If it takes you 15 billion years, then you are a human.

A Six Word Novel [edit]

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

Figure: Consider the six word novel, apocraphally credited to Ernest Hemingway, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”. To understand what that means to a human, you need a great deal of additional context. Context that is not directly accessible to a machine that has not got both the evolved and contextual understanding of our own condition to realize both the implication of the advert and what that implication means emotionally to the previous owner.

But this is a very different kind of intelligence than ours. A computer cannot understand the depth of the Ernest Hemingway’s apocryphal six word novel: “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never worn”, because it isn’t equipped with that ability to model the complexity of humanity that underlies that statement.

Computer Conversations [edit]

Figure: Conversation relies on internal models of other individuals.

Figure: Misunderstanding of context and who we are talking to leads to arguments.

Similarly, we find it difficult to comprehend how computers are making decisions. Because they do so with more data than we can possibly imagine.

In many respects, this is not a problem, it’s a good thing. Computers and us are good at different things. But when we interact with a computer, when it acts in a different way to us, we need to remember why.

Just as the first step to getting along with other humans is understanding other humans, so it needs to be with getting along with our computers.

Embodiment factors explain why, at the same time, computers are so impressive in simulating our weather, but so poor at predicting our moods. Our complexity is greater than that of our weather, and each of us is tuned to read and respond to one another.

Their intelligence is different. It is based on very large quantities of data that we cannot absorb. Our computers don’t have a complex internal model of who we are. They don’t understand the human condition. They are not tuned to respond to us as we are to each other.

Embodiment factors encapsulate a profound thing about the nature of humans. Our locked in intelligence means that we are striving to communicate, so we put a lot of thought into what we’re communicating with. And if we’re communicating with something complex, we naturally anthropomorphize them.

We give our dogs, our cats and our cars human motivations. We do the same with our computers. We anthropomorphize them. We assume that they have the same objectives as us and the same constraints. They don’t.

This means, that when we worry about artificial intelligence, we worry about the wrong things. We fear computers that behave like more powerful versions of ourselves that will struggle to outcompete us.

In reality, the challenge is that our computers cannot be human enough. They cannot understand us with the depth we understand one another. They drop below our cognitive radar and operate outside our mental models.

The real danger is that computers don’t anthropomorphize. They’ll make decisions in isolation from us without our supervision, because they can’t communicate truly and deeply with us.

Computer Science Paradigm Shift [edit]

The next wave of machine learning is a paradigm shift in the way we think about computer science.

Classical computer science assumes that ‘data’ and ‘code’ are separate, and this is the foundation of secure computer systems. In machine learning, ‘data’ is ‘software’, so the decision making is directly influenced by the data. We are short-circuiting a fundamental assumption of computer science, we are breeching the code/data separation.

This means we need to revisit many of our assumptions and tooling around the machine learning process. In particular, we need new approaches to systems design, new approaches to programming languages that highlight the importance of data, and new approaches to systems security.

Intellectual Debt [edit]

Figure: Jonathan Zittrain’s term to describe the challenges of explanation that come with AI is Intellectual Debt.

In computer systems the concept of technical debt has been surfaced by authors including Sculley et al. (2015). It is an important concept, that I think is somewhat hidden from the academic community, because it is a phenomenon that occurs when a computer software system is deployed.

Lean Startup Methodology

In technology, there is the notion of a “minimum viable product” (MVP). Sometimes called “minimum loveable product” (MLP). A minimum viable product is the smallest thing that you need to ship to test your commercial idea. There is a methodology known as the “lean start-up” methodology, where you use the least effort to create your machine learning model is deployed.

The idea is that you should build the quickest thing possible to test your market and see if your idea works. Only when you know your idea is working should you invest more time and personnel in the software.

Unfortunately, there is a tension between deploying quickly and deploying a maintainable system. To build an MVP you deploy quickly, but if the system is successful you take a ‘maintenance hit’ in the future because you’ve not invested early in the right maintainable design for your system.

You save on engineer time at the beginning, but you pay it back with high interest when you need a much higher operations load once the system is deployed.

The notion of the Sculley paper is that there are particular challenges for machine learning models around technical debt.

The Mythical Man-month

Figure: The Mythical Man-month (Brooks, n.d.) is a 1975 book focussed on the challenges of software project coordination.

However, when managing systems in production, you soon discover maintenance of a rapidly deployed system is not your only problem.

To deploy large and complex software systems, an engineering approach known as “separation of concerns” is taken. Frederick Brooks’ book “The Mythical Man-month” (Brooks, n.d.), has itself gained almost mythical status in the community. It focuses on what has become known as Brooks’ law “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”.

Adding people (men or women!) to a project delays it because of the communication overhead required to get people up to speed.

Separation of Concerns

To construct such complex systems an approach known as “separation of concerns” has been developed. The idea is that you architect your system, which consists of a large-scale complex task, into a set of simpler tasks. Each of these tasks is separately implemented. This is known as the decomposition of the task.

This is where Jonathan Zittrain’s beautifully named term “intellectual debt” rises to the fore. Separation of concerns enables the construction of a complex system. But who is concerned with the overall system?

  • Technical debt is the inability to maintain your complex software system.

  • Intellectual debt is the inability to explain your software system.

It is right there in our approach to software engineering. “Separation of concerns” means no one is concerned about the overall system itself.

The Three Ds of Machine Learning Systems Design [edit]

We can characterize the challenges for integrating machine learning within our systems as the three Ds. Decomposition, Data and Deployment.

You can also check my blog post on blog post on The 3Ds of Machine Learning Systems Design..

The first two components decomposition and data are interlinked, but we will first outline the decomposition challenge. Below we will mainly focus on supervised learning because this is arguably the technology that is best understood within machine learning.

Decomposition [edit]

Machine learning is not magical pixie dust, we cannot simply automate all decisions through data. We are constrained by our data (see below) and the models we use.1 Machine learning models are relatively simple function mappings that include characteristics such as smoothness. With some famous exceptions, e.g. speech and image data, inputs are constrained in the form of vectors and the model consists of a mathematically well-behaved function. This means that some careful thought has to be put in to the right sub-process to automate with machine learning. This is the challenge of decomposition of the machine learning system.

Any repetitive task is a candidate for automation, but many of the repetitive tasks we perform as humans are more complex than any individual algorithm can replace. The selection of which task to automate becomes critical and has downstream effects on our overall system design.

Our approach to complex system design is separation of concerns, decompose the large scale system into smaller parts, each of which can be managed by a separate team.

Pigeonholing

Figure: The machine learning systems decomposition process calls for separating a complex task into decomposable separate entities. A process we can think of as pigeonholing.

Some aspects to take into account are

  1. Can we refine the decision we need to a set of repetitive tasks where input information and output decision/value is well defined?
  2. Can we represent each sub-task we’ve defined with a mathematical mapping?

The representation necessary for the second aspect may involve massaging of the problem: feature selection or adaptation. It may also involve filtering out exception cases (perhaps through a pre-classification).

All else being equal, we’d like to keep our models simple and interpretable. If we can convert a complex mapping to a linear mapping through clever selection of sub-tasks and features this is a big win.

For example, Facebook have feature engineers, individuals whose main role is to design features they think might be useful for one of their tasks (e.g. newsfeed ranking, or ad matching). Facebook have a training/testing pipeline called FBLearner. Facebook have predefined the sub-tasks they are interested in, and they are tightly connected to their business model.

It is easier for Facebook to do this because their business model is heavily focused on user interaction. A challenge for companies that have a more diversified portfolio of activities driving their business is the identification of the most appropriate sub-task. A potential solution to feature and model selection is known as AutoML (Feurer et al., n.d.). Or we can think of it as using Machine Learning to assist Machine Learning. It’s also called meta-learning. Learning about learning. The input to the ML algorithm is a machine learning task, the output is a proposed model to solve the task.

One trap that is easy to fall in is too much emphasis on the type of model we have deployed rather than the appropriateness of the task decomposition we have chosen.

Recommendation: Conditioned on task decomposition, we should automate the process of model improvement. Model updates should not be discussed in management meetings, they should be deployed and updated as a matter of course. Further details below on model deployment, but model updating needs to be considered at design time. This is the domain of AutoML.

Figure: The answer to the question which comes first, the chicken or the egg is simple, they co-evolve (Popper 1963). Similarly, when we place components together in a complex machine learning system, they will tend to co-evolve and compensate for one another.

To form modern decision-making systems, many components are interlinked. We decompose our complex decision making into individual tasks, but the performance of each component is dependent on those upstream of it.

This naturally leads to co-evolution of systems; upstream errors can be compensated by downstream corrections.

To embrace this characteristic, end-to-end training could be considered. Why produce the best forecast by metrics when we can just produce the best forecast for our systems? End-to-end training can lead to improvements in performance, but it would also damage our systems decomposability and its interpretability, and perhaps its adaptability.

Poor systems decomposition, and a lack of interpretability can compound challenges around intellectual debt.

The less human interpretable our systems are, the harder they are to adapt to different circumstances or diagnose when there’s a challenge. The trade-off between interpretability and performance is a constant tension which we should always retain in our minds when performing our system design.

Combining Data and Systems Design [edit]

Data Science as Debugging [edit]

One challenge for existing information technology professionals is realizing the extent to which a software ecosystem based on data differs from a classical ecosystem. In particular, by ingesting data we bring unknowns/uncontrollables into our decision-making system. This presents opportunity for adversarial exploitation and unforeseen operation.

blog post on Data Science as Debugging.

Starting with the analysis of a data set, the nature of data science is somewhat difference from classical software engineering.

One analogy I find helpful for understanding the depth of change we need is the following. Imagine as a software engineer, you find a USB stick on the ground. And for some reason you know that on that USB stick is a particular API call that will enable you to make a significant positive difference on a business problem. You don’t know which of the many library functions on the USB stick are the ones that will help. And it could be that some of those library functions will hinder, perhaps because they are just inappropriate or perhaps because they have been placed there maliciously. The most secure thing to do would be to not introduce this code into your production system at all. But what if your manager told you to do so, how would you go about incorporating this code base?

The answer is very carefully. You would have to engage in a process more akin to debugging than regular software engineering. As you understood the code base, for your work to be reproducible, you should be documenting it, not just what you discovered, but how you discovered it. In the end, you typically find a single API call that is the one that most benefits your system. But more thought has been placed into this line of code than any line of code you have written before.

An enormous amount of debugging would be required. As the nature of the code base is understood, software tests to verify it also need to be constructed. At the end of all your work, the lines of software you write to actually interact with the software on the USB stick are likely to be minimal. But more thought would be put into those lines than perhaps any other lines of code in the system.

Even then, when your API code is introduced into your production system, it needs to be deployed in an environment that monitors it. We cannot rely on an individual’s decision making to ensure the quality of all our systems. We need to create an environment that includes quality controls, checks and bounds, tests, all designed to ensure that assumptions made about this foreign code base are remaining valid.

This situation is akin to what we are doing when we incorporate data in our production systems. When we are consuming data from others, we cannot assume that it has been produced in alignment with our goals for our own systems. Worst case, it may have been adversarially produced. A further challenge is that data is dynamic. So, in effect, the code on the USB stick is evolving over time.

It might see that this process is easy to formalize now, we simply need to check what the formal software engineering process is for debugging, because that is the current software engineering activity that data science is closest to. But when we look for a formalization of debugging, we find that there is none. Indeed, modern software engineering mainly focusses on ensuring that code is written without bugs in the first place.

Recommendation: Anecdotally, resolving a machine learning challenge requires 80% of the resource to be focused on the data and perhaps 20% to be focused on the model. But many companies are too keen to employ machine learning engineers who focus on the models, not the data. We should change our hiring priorities and training. Universities cannot provide the understanding of how to data-wrangle. Companies must fill this gap.

Figure: A reservoir of data has more value if the data is consumable. The data crisis can only be addressed if we focus on outputs rather than inputs.

Figure: For a data first architecture we need to clean our data at source, rather than individually cleaning data for each task. This involves a shift of focus from our inputs to our outputs. We should provide data streams that are consumable by many teams without purification.

Recommendation: We need to share best practice around data deployment across our teams. We should make best use of our processes where applicable, but we need to develop them to become data first organizations. Data needs to be cleaned at output not at input.

Deployment [edit]

Much of the academic machine learning systems point of view is based on a software systems point of view that is around 20 years out of date. In particular we build machine learning models on fixed training data sets, and we test them on stationary test data sets.

In practice modern software systems involve continuous deployment of models into an ever-evolving world of data. These changes are indicated in the software world by greater availability of technologies like streaming technologies.

Continuous Deployment

Once the decomposition is understood, the data is sourced and the models are created, the model code needs to be deployed.

To extend the USB stick analogy further, how would as software engineer deploy the code if they thought that the code might evolve in production? This is what data does. We cannot assume that the conditions under which we trained our model will be retained as we move forward, indeed the only constant we have is change.

This means that when any data dependent model is deployed into production, it requires continuous monitoring to ensure the assumptions of design have not been invalidated. Software changes are qualified through testing, in particular a regression test ensures that existing functionality is not broken by change. Since data is continually evolving, machine learning systems require ‘continual regression testing’: oversight by systems that ensure their existing functionality has not been broken as the world evolves around them. An approach we refer to as progression testing. Unfortunately, standards around ML model deployment yet been developed. The modern world of continuous deployment does rely on testing, but it does not recognize the continuous evolution of the world around us.

Progression tests are likely to be statistical tests in contrast to classical software tests. The tests should be monitoring model performance and quality measures. They could also monitor conformance to standardized fairness measures.

If the world has changed around our decision-making ecosystem, how are we alerted to those changes?

Recommendation: We establish best practice around model deployment. We need to shift our culture from standing up a software service, to standing up a data as a service. Data as a Service would involve continual monitoring of our deployed models in production. This would be regulated by ‘hypervisor’ systems2 that understand the context in which models are deployed and recognize when circumstances have changed, and models need retraining or restructuring.

Data-oriented Architectures [edit]

Data-oriented architectures aim to address the rat’s nest that is the current interaction between the services in a service-oriented architecture. It does this by introducing data-oriented programming. The data-oriented programming language tracks the movement of data between each service.

Service-oriented programming style is a necessary, but not sufficient approach to data-oriented programming. Data-oriented programming is not only about the individual services, but how they are connected. Which service is calling which and where the flow of the data through the system occurs?

If each service has its inputs and outputs declared on a wider ecosystem, then we can programmatically determine which inputs effect which decisions. This programmatic discovery is vital because as systems are built compositionally, the actual inputs that affect a final decision may not be known to any of the software engineers who are maintaining the system.

Milan [edit]

At Amazon my team built a data-oriented programming language which is now available through BSD license. The language is called Milan. The team was led by Tom Borchert, quoting from Tom’s blog on Milan:

Milan has three components:

  1. A general-purpose stream algebra that encodes relationships between data streams (the Milan Intermediate Language or Milan IL)

  2. A Scala library for building programs in that algebra.

  3. A compiler that takes programs expressed in Milan IL and produces a Flink application that executes the program.

Component (2) can be extended to support interfaces in additional languages, and component (3) can be extended to support additional runtime targets. Considering just the multiple interfaces and the multiple runtimes, Milan looks a lot like the much more mature Apache Beam. The difference lies in (1), Milan’s general-purpose stream algebra.

It is through the general-purpose stream algebra that we hope to make significant inroads on the intellectual debt challenge.

The stream algebra defines the relationship between different machine learning components in the wider software architecture. Composition of multiple services cannot occur without a signature existing within the stream algebra. The Milan IL becomes the key information structure that is required to reason about the wider software system.

Context

This deals with the challenges that arise through the death of the programmer because we can now see the context around each service. This allows us to design the relevant validation checks to ensure that accuracy and fairness are maintained. By recompiling the algebra to focus on a particular decision within the system we can also derive new statistical tests to validate performance. These are the checks that we refer to as progression testing. The loss of programmer control means that we can no longer rely on software tests written at design time, we must have the capability to deploy new (statistical) tests after deployment as the uses to which each service is placed extend to previously un-envisaged domains.

Stateless Services

Importantly, Milan does not place onerous constraints on the builders of individual machine learning models (or other components). Standard modelling frameworks can be used. The main constraint is that any code that is not visible to the ecosystem does not maintain or store global state. This condition implies that the parameters of any machine learning model need to also be declared as an input to the model within the Milan IL.

Meta Modelling

Figure: The Emukit software is a set of software tools for emulation and surrogate modeling. https://amzn.github.io/emukit/

Where does machine learning come in? The strategy I propose is that the Milan IL is integrated with meta-modelling approaches to assist in the explanation of the decision-making framework. At their simplest these approaches may be novelty detection algorithms on the data streams that are emerging from a given service. This is a form of progression testing. But we can go much further. By knowing the training data, the inputs and outputs of the individual services in the software ecosystem, we can build meta-models that test for fairness, accuracy not just of individual system components, but short or long cascades of decision making. Through the use of the Milan IL algebra all these tests could be automatically deployed. The focus of machine learning is on the models-that-model-the-models. The meta-models.

In Amazon, our own focus was on the use of statistical emulators, sometimes known as surrogate models, for fulfilling this task. The work we were putting into this route is available through another software package, Emukit, a framework for decision making under uncertainty. With collaborators my current focus for addressing these issues is a form of fusion of Emukit and Milan (Milemukit??). But the nature of this fusion requires testing on real world problem sets. A task we hope to carry out in close collaboration with colleagues at Data Science Africa.

Conclusion

The Great AI Fallacy is an implicit promise behind AI systems that they will be the first generation of automation to adapt to the human, rather than the human having to adapt to the machine. In reality, we have no evidence that we’ve achieved this.

What we see in practice is that the humans will have to adadpt even more to the machine.

Thanks!

For more information on these subjects and more you might want to check the following resources.

References

Brooks, Frederick. n.d. The Mythical Man-Month. Addison-Wesley.

Feurer, Matthias, Aaron Klein, Katharina Eggensperger, Jost Tobias Springenberg, Manuel Blum, and Frank Hutter. n.d. “Efficient and Robust Automated Machine Learning.” In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems.

Lawrence, Neil D. 2017. “Living Together: Mind and Machine Intelligence.” arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.07996.

Maxwell, James Clerk. 1867. “On Governors.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 16: 270–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/112510.

Popper, Karl R. 1963. Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. London: Routledge.

Sculley, D., Gary Holt, Daniel Golovin, Eugene Davydov, Todd Phillips, Dietmar Ebner, Vinay Chaudhary, Michael Young, Jean-François Crespo, and Dan Dennison. 2015. “Hidden Technical Debt in Machine Learning Systems.” In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 28, edited by Corinna Cortes, Neil D. Lawrence, Daniel D. Lee, Masashi Sugiyama, and Roman Garnett, 2503–11. Curran Associates, Inc. http://papers.nips.cc/paper/5656-hidden-technical-debt-in-machine-learning-systems.pdf.

Wiener, Norbert. 1948. Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.


  1. We can also become constrained by our tribal thinking, just as each of the other groups can.↩︎

  2. Emulation, or surrogate modelling, is one very promising approach to forming such a hypervisor. Emulators are models we fit to other models, often simulations, but the could also be other machine learning models. These models operate at the meta-level, not on the systems directly. This means they can be used to model how the sub-systems interact. As well as emulators we should consider real time dash boards, anomaly detection, mutlivariate analysis, data visualization and classical statistical approaches for hypervision of our deployed systems.↩︎