0. Thank You

Often it is only at the end of a process that we portray or even experience our gratefulness towards the people that have helped us along the way. Too often, maybe. So, as you are reading this now, I would like to say

Thank you.

Don’t worry, I am not expecting anything in return in the future. But then, what am I thanking you for? Let me explain.

This post, and the posts that will follow, are written by me as part of my graduation project on machine learning and understanding. I am no expert in either of those fields, as I am not a computer scientist nor a psychologist. This is why I am employing the underqualified¹ person’s best friend: Creativity.

I believe it is important to be able to interpret the machines that we use, at least to a certain extent. I also believe that a lack of such interpretation can be dangerous.² Lastly I believe that there is a place for a bit more of a fresh and creative perspective of what it means to interpret or understand a machine, specifically a complicated model of machine learning.

Part of this process is that I write these posts. Consider it as somewhere between a blog and a personal review of existing literature. In this, it already helps a lot to have an audience to write for so that I can understand through explanation. Next to this, you can consider this as a letter to yourself. Maybe not to you as a person, but at least to you as a group of people that are interested enough to read. This allows me to share my own thoughts and to enter a discussion rather than a purely reflexive monologue, and this is very helpful for me as well.

So for this, I am grateful. For the possibility to put into words what I have read and thought about and aim these at you as a reader. Thank you.

Foot notes:

1. I should note that I am more or less a qualified student in the adjacent fields of mathematics, logic and philosophy and this will certainly prove helpful in the course of this project. I am not directly experienced with any of the subject matter and I will be learning this as we go along.

2. That is to say, I am not scared the robots will take over. I am more scared that we will enter a state in which our society relies on technology that is too complicated to treat in a healthy manner.