• Question: What inspires you to look into the probability of algorithms?

    Asked by secretsaudience26 to William, Sreejita, Sophie, Rob, Nick, Gary, Fiona, Christina on 1 Jan 2020.
    • Photo: Gary Munnelly

      Gary Munnelly answered on 1 Jan 2020:


      Hey, I’m afraid I’m not too sure what you mean by the “probability of algorithms”. Any chance you could throw a clarification in the comments and if I can answer your question I will 🙂

    • Photo: Sreejita Ghosh

      Sreejita Ghosh answered on 2 Jan 2020:


      Do you mean probabilistic algorithms? If yes, then here’s my answer. I develop classifiers to apply them on healthcare data. When dealing with medical problems doctors almost always answer with some amount of uncertainties, good or bad. This in addition to helping the patient party be mentally prepared, enlightens them of further risks which can pop up in near future. From the doctors’ point of view, by giving the diagnosis in terms of likelihood rather than a crisp yes or no, or disease label A or B, the doctors can keep an open mind about what else is worth investigating in the patient.
      This was the primary inspiration for us to try making a probabilistic algorithm. With the probabilistic version of my algorithm the lesser dominant disorders in a patient with comorbidities will still be identified, and not be overlooked. This means that the patients will get treatment for the lesser dominant disorders as well.

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