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Google Prediction API

code.google.com

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Re: Google Prediction API

#41

Post by Sandman »

mikecane wrote: post #31

As a non-techie, I don't understand the language example they're using. It seems to me many prediction engines are originally built to try to forecast winning lottery numbers or other such gambling events. Google expects me to believe they did this for language?

The purpose of the example was to show how the Prediction API can recognise the language used just from a few words. So, the data given to the API is a few words in French, and it's prediction is that the language is French. I believe that they're already using this technology in Google Translator. You just type in a few words and it immediately recognises what language is being used. Then you only need to choose the language to which the text is to be translated.

Re: Google Prediction API

#42

Post by metaguri »

btilly wrote: post #40
metaguri wrote: post #32

I was guessing that google (in their never-ending desire to consume more data) would want to use us as guinea-pigs to improve their algorithms. It's not 100% clear to me, but from the terms of service: By submitting, posting, displaying, or transmitting Data on or through the Service, you give Google permission to process your Data for the sole purpose of enabling Google to provide you with the Service in accordance…

Did you miss the phrase, for the sole purpose of enabling Google to provide you with the Service in accordance with its privacy policy ? That phrase tells me that the ONLY thing they get permission to do with the data is use it for processing your requests. And they definitely need that. In order to process requests, Google has to make a bunch of copies of your data, create models, etc. Furthermore Google will need t…

No, I did see that, but to zoom in further, what is meant by "in accordance with its privacy policy"?

For Google's other apps, their privacy policy lets them confidentialize and then use data about you to improve their services. Don't see anything that stops them from doing stuff with your data as part of "providing you with the service", without giving up your ownership of it.

Yes, I'm speculating. But it just struck me as a reason for google to offer this service. And honestly, if I were a user I might be ok with them using my data anonymously to improve said service that I am using.

Re: Google Prediction API

#44

Post by mikecane »

btilly wrote: post #36
mikecane wrote: post #31

As a non-techie, I don't understand the language example they're using. It seems to me many prediction engines are originally built to try to forecast winning lottery numbers or other such gambling events. Google expects me to believe they did this for language?

The point is that they took a large number of documents, which are clearly labelled as to language, gave it as a training set to the machine, and they now have a classifier that lets you input random text and tells you the language it was probably written in. In principle you can do this with any data set and any set of discrete outcomes. In general, though, you should expect that the resulting classifier won't give…

Whenever I see the term "prediction" applied to software, I immediately think of the books "The Eudaemonic Pie" and "The Predictors." I guess they've spoiled me.

Re: Google Prediction API

#45

Post by tel »

frisco wrote: post #12
lsb wrote: post #11

Would you give every data point of yours over to Google?

Data doesn't have to be readable. Often, preprocessed datasets are totally incomprehensible for everyone except whoever prepared it. Multiple fields are combined into composites, rescaled, transposed, etc.

You're providing a lot of entropy to a body that has even more sitting around. If anyone could find some part of a dataset that might be sufficient to deanonymize your data Google could.

Not saying you need to be so paranoid, just that non-readability of data might be comparable to obfuscating your javascript to keep people from prying into your code.

At least to a sufficiently knowledgeable corporation.

Re: Google Prediction API

#46

Post by zefhous »

I'd love to see how well it could predict comment ratings from Hacker News.

The following data would be a good start:

1. Text of comment

2. How many points the comment has

3. How many points the article has

4. Time article was posted

5. Time comment was posted

I'd also be interested to see what kind of user bias there is. If you don't provide user names, you could see what kind of rating a comment should have based on its content, and what rating it actually has because certain users are generally loved (pg) or hated (jasonmcalacanis) by the community.

Re: Google Prediction API

#47

Post by _delirium »

m0th87 wrote: post #10

This is easily the most interesting announcement so far. Machine learning has so many applications, but its use is constrained by the high barriers to entry. Recommendation engines, for example, are huge sales drivers, but few among even the largest ecommerce stores use them. A simple prediction interface that's built on the ML expertise at Google is a win for everyone.

The standard supervised-learning stuff doesn't have that high a barrier to entry these days, although offloading it as a service to the cloud is of course even easier. But on the client side, things like Weka are simple enough that plenty of CS undergrads use them in intro data-mining/AI/stats classes: http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka/

Off-the-shelf recommendation systems are a bit trickier though, yeah.

Re: Google Prediction API

#48

Post by jacquesm »

conesus wrote: post #26
snippyhollow wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You scratched the itch I procrastinated to scratch. Others (à la Postrank) tried, you just seem you have tried better! 1 Kudo :) EDIT: Ah, you're the guy behind Raphaël Vector lib, have one more Kudo!

Raphaël was written by Dmitry Baranovskiy. I only made very minor contributions to the library (animation easing, which are pretty ubiquitous in the examples now) and presented the library at the SVG Open 2009 at Google. I made Protopub to scratch the itch I think a LOT of us have. I am about a month away from a v1.0, and that's when I'll announce it on HN. Until then, I'm tweaking AI algorithms, fixing UI bugs, and…

Super stuff. I've invested in a Dutch start-up that had this vision about 3 years ago, but got stranded along the way and pivoted in to being a website building company because they found they could make more money in the short term that way (mistake...).

Anyway, I have some appreciation for the difficulties you must have encountered, and it doesn't please me but it will please you to know that at least from them you won't be having much competition.

Is it ok to start using your service? (not from an industrial espionage point of view but because it is useful!)

Re: Google Prediction API

#49

Post by conesus »

jacquesm wrote: post #48
conesus wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raphaël was written by Dmitry Baranovskiy. I only made very minor contributions to the library (animation easing, which are pretty ubiquitous in the examples now) and presented the library at the SVG Open 2009 at Google. I made Protopub to scratch the itch I think a LOT of us have. I am about a month away from a v1.0, and that's when I'll announce it on HN. Until then, I'm tweaking AI algorithms, fixing UI bugs, and…

Super stuff. I've invested in a Dutch start-up that had this vision about 3 years ago, but got stranded along the way and pivoted in to being a website building company because they found they could make more money in the short term that way (mistake...). Anyway, I have some appreciation for the difficulties you must have encountered, and it doesn't please me but it will please you to know that at least from them you…

Absolutely you can start using it. I evolve it every single day. I use Protopub exclusively as my feed reader, and have been for about a month.

Right now, Protopub is an experiment, but it also serves as a beacon to other likeminded hackers in NYC, where I live, that I am interested in meeting others who want to create unique and technically savvy projects. It has done a good job of doing exactly that so far.

Re: Google Prediction API

#50

Post by bshep »

zefhous wrote: post #46

I'd love to see how well it could predict comment ratings from Hacker News. The following data would be a good start: 1. Text of comment 2. How many points the comment has 3. How many points the article has 4. Time article was posted 5. Time comment was posted I'd also be interested to see what kind of user bias there is. If you don't provide user names, you could see what kind of rating a comment should have based o…

That sounds really interesting! If anyone does the analysis it would be cool to see the results.
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