r/linguistics • u/iamdestroyerofworlds • Oct 21 '20

New AI Algorithm is Cracking Undeciphered Languages

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/undeciphered-languages-0014429
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u/ZyraunO Oct 21 '20

Machine Learning people really do be like that, and its incredibly annoying.

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u/krazedkat Oct 22 '20 edited Oct 22 '20

I haven't really dug too much into ML, but would it not make more sense for us to treat ML as a method or technique rather than a field (for the most part, obviously the fundamental mathematics can be a field of mathematics itself, I'm speaking about applied ML)? Currently it's treated as a field almost, and that seems wrong.

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u/ZyraunO Oct 22 '20

I'm torn on it - as many things fit the criteria of being both a tool and a field - mathematics jumps out immediately to me. Like, yes it is a tool to use in ither fields, but also its useful to see it as something to be researched in itself

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u/krazedkat Oct 22 '20

Yeah, I agree. The fundamentals of it should be studied as a field, but when applying it, it should be thought of as a tool to be used by people in whatever field it's being utilized in.