"Forget artificial intelligence – in the brave new world of big data, it's artificial idiocy we should be looking out for."
– Tom Chatfield
I recall that at some meeting circa mid-2012, I was part of a group discussing the results of some analysis or other, when one of the people around the table sounded off with a hint of exasperation mixed with a tinge of fright: this isn't one of those neural networks, is it? I knew of his past run-ins with, and deep-seated anxiety regarding, neural networks, so I assuaged his fears, making some sarcastic comment that neural networks have basically gone the way of the dinosaur. No one disagreed! Several months later, I was gobsmacked when I attended a local meeting where the discussion focused on, of all things, neural networks and this mysterious deep learning. Machine learning...
