Careful -- this is only locally optimal! You can do better :). [1] is the proven globally optimal solution of a very similar problem from one of the foremost experts in the TSP, Bill Cook at U of Waterloo. It is solvable in less than a second on your iPhone [2] -- yes your iPhone can solve a TSP to "true" optimality.
The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
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Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#22Careful -- this is only locally optimal! You can do better :). [1] is the proven globally optimal solution of a very similar problem from one of the foremost experts in the TSP, Bill Cook at U of Waterloo. It is solvable in less than a second on your iPhone [2] -- yes your iPhone can solve a TSP to "true" optimality. [1] http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/tsp/usa50/road.html [2] https://twitter.com/wjcook/status/5757628133…
Also the route is just wrong at some points like the Delaware stop being 1+ hour south from where it's supposed to be due to Google Maps spitting out a weird result for New Castle Historic District.
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#23What does "machine learning" mean here? How does the algorithm guarantee the trip is optimal?
I'm almost certain it was used incorrectly in this case. The correct term is "combinatorial optimization."
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#24I'm being pedantic, but the problem being solved here is not a learning problem, but a combinatorial optimization problem.
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#25Not clear to me is whether the machine learning is for the destinations, the sequencing or am I routed on scenic roads?
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#26Very curious about the decision metric for "major landmark" here. The San Benito County mark, for example, leads you to a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and the major point for Delaware is just Delaware. Neither of those seem to fit a reasonable metric for a major landmark.
I think it's trying to pass through all 48 states, with some random landmarks and cities thrown into the mix.
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#27Skips LA - clever girl.
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#28I'm being pedantic, but the problem being solved here is not a learning problem, but a combinatorial optimization problem.
agreed, but you're too early. The current buzzword your looking for to put in your marketing material is 'Machine Learning'. Revisit 'Combinatorial Optimization', possibly combined with 'Cloud' again in a few years.
Edit: hey great post of yours btw. http://jeremykun.com/2014/09/29/hybrid-images/
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also Indiana, for its eateries may now legally refuse to serve customers that use machine learning for religous reasons.
This is presumably not the intended parsing of that sentence, but "machine learning for religious reasons" sounds like a great premise for a sci-fi novel.
Expect 2015-2017 to have a number of AI/ML-themed movies as screenplays are likely now making the rounds.
Re: The optimal road trip across the U.S. according to machine learning
#30WTF! Skips Chicago? Made a huge detour for the Wright Bros.
And LA, San Diego, Seattle, Miami...basically every major city outside of the north east (shy of Portland and San Francisco). Very strange indeed.