ColloquiaTalk by David McAllester on Friday, April 12 at 2:30 pm

[Margery Ishmael]

Friday, April 12, 2002
2:30 pm
Ryerson 251

SPEAKER: David McAllester, AT&T Research Laboratory (Shannon Labs)

TITLE:  The Role of Simplicity in Learning Theory

ABSTRACT: Science values simplicity.  All other things being equal, a
simple explanation is preferable to a complex one.  Bayesians assign
higher prior probability to simple theories.  But is it really true
that a simple theory is a-priori more likely than a complex one?  It
turns out that one can justify a preference for simplicity independent
of Bayesian assumptions.  The justification involves only the law of
large number and the observation that the number of simple theories is
limited.  This talk will present this justification and go on to
describe more general "laws of large numbers" that justify more
sophisticated methods of evaluating the accuracy of predictive rules.
http://www.autoreason.com/

Host: David MacQueen

*The talk will be followed by refreshments in Ryerson 255*
Persons with disabilities who may need assistance should call 773.834.8977

If you would like to meet with the speaker, please send e-mail to 
marge at cs.uchicago.edu