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Single Idea 19737

[from 'New Scientist articles' by New Scientist writers, in 14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 4. Prediction ]

Full Idea

If we can train a system for prediction, it can essentially infer the structure of the world it's looking at by doing this prediction.

Gist of Idea

A system can infer the structure of the world by making predictions about it

Source

New Scientist writers (New Scientist articles [2013], 2015.12.12)

Book Reference

-: 'New Scientist magazine' [ 2013], p.29


A Reaction

[AI expert] This seems to be powerful support for the centrality of mathematical laws of nature in achieving understanding of the world. We may downplay the 'mere' ability to predict, but this idea says that the rewards of prediction are very great.