The Singularity

5:29 AM

Hiya!

Are questions regarding machine learning and their algorithm's on-topic here?

9:41 AM

Alright folks. I'm leaving this community for good.
I don't really understand if qns about AI bots are off-topic, then what even is on-topic in this site.

AI Meta Questions

10:56 AM

0

Q: Do we really have a scope or not?

So, can someone help me understand what the scope of the site is? I ask a question about Monte Carlo search, which is one of the core algorithms behind the Go playing AI bot, AlphaGo, and it is closed off as off-topic, citing this reason This question does not appear to be about artificial intel...

Dawny33

2:38 PM

@BenN Shall we continue our discussion here? Regarding this:

1

Q: Do we really have a scope or not?

So, can someone help me understand what the scope of the site is? I ask a question about Monte Carlo search, which is one of the core algorithms behind the Go playing AI bot, AlphaGo, and it is closed off as off-topic, citing this reason This question does not appear to be about artificial intel...

discussion scope

Ben N

Yes, that would be easier :)

Dawny33

@BenN Yeah. So, can you give an example qn which is on-topic in this site and not in DS and CV?

Ben N

Most recently active question at the moment: ai.stackexchange.com/q/41/75

This is also interesting: ai.stackexchange.com/q/1401/75

I can keep linking more if you'd like :)

Dawny33

@BenN haha I get it.

Let me explain my argument:

@BenN Pl help me get my head around this. Are all AI algo. ML?

Ben N

That is my understanding, and even if parts of math/stats stuff aren't strictly ML, this site isn't about those low-level, implementation-like things

Dawny33

2:45 PM

So, with that logic, we should close down all(or 90%) the posts tagged neural-nets, deep-network and algorithm.

Ben N

That may be

Or at least adjust them so they aren't strictly about algorithms

Dawny33

Those are the top 3 tags, and have 54 posts between them. So, it's a good idea to include algos. in the scope too.

Ben N

Hmm, I think that does make sense to consider once we pass private beta

Dawny33

What if they're on-topic in DS. If they also come under AI, then they should be on-topic here too.

Ben N

Right now, the default state is fail unless we can show SE that we bring something new to their network

2

Dawny33

2:47 PM

Something is on-topic on one site shouldn't neccesarily make it off-topic in other site.

If those posts help a user in understanding how a particular AI systems work, then let it be on-topic.

^ Just my argument. Might be wrong :)

Ben N

Your first sentence is definitely right, and I agree

The trick here is that during private beta, we should have exclusive content to show our worth to SE

Dawny33

@BenN We do have exclusive content (<-- The posts you linked). Just don't close off posts which ask about algorithms of AI systems. If we keep closing them, we'd be closing posts all day long, my friend.

And it would definitely discourage users (like me) who want to understand the fine details about AI systems :)

2

Ben N

That makes sense, but again, it's very important that our site doesn't look the same as CV and DS - the frontpage is just as important as all our meta conversations when it comes to attracting new people

Dawny33

@BenN Agree.

My gradient descent post might be off-topic. But, I wouldn't agree that my Monte-Carlo search post is off-topic. It is the core governing algorithm behind AlphaGo, one of the hottest AI bots out there.

Ben N

Indeed, that's an important algorithm. Still, the consensus seems to be that algorithm questions are off-topic at the moment

Dawny33

2:55 PM

@BenN I have put my points, and that's all I can do :)

I have seen what happens to a site(Hardware Recs) which narrows down scope too much, and I didn't want this site to follow the same fate.

Ben N

Fair enough. A narrow scope is better than a closed site IMO :)

Dawny33

True that :) But, there's still time. Let's decide collaboratively. Meanwhile, I'd keep posting my rants on meta. Maybe they'll help in deciding the scope :P

Transcript for