Data Science at Home

Humans seem to have reached a cross-point, where they are asked to choose between functionality and privacy. But not both. Not both at all. No data, no service. That’s what companies building personal finance services say. The same applies to marketing companies, social media companies, search engine companies, and healthcare institutions. In this episode I speak about the reasons to aggregate data for precision medicine, the consequences of such strategies and how can researchers and organizations provide services to individuals while respecting their privacy.  

Attacking deep learning models Compromising AI for fun and profit   Deep learning models have shown very promising results in computer vision and sound recognition. As more and more deep learning based systems get integrated in disparate domains, they will keep affecting the life of people. Autonomous vehicles, medical imaging and banking applications, surveillance cameras and drones, digital assistants, are only a few real applications where deep learning plays a fundamental role. A malfunction in any of these applications will affect the quality of such integrated systems and compromise the security of the individuals who directly or indirectly use them. In this episode, we explain how machine learning models can be attacked and what we can do to protect intelligent systems from being  compromised.

Today I am having a conversation with Filip Piękniewski, researcher working on computer vision and AI at Koh Young Research America. His adventure with AI started in the 90s and since then a long list of experiences at the intersection of computer science and physics, led him to the conclusion that deep learning might not be sufficient nor appropriate to solve the problem of intelligence, specifically artificial intelligence.   I read some of his publications and got familiar with some of his ideas. Honestly, I have been attracted by the fact that Filip does not buy the hype around AI and deep learning in particular. He doesn’t seem to share the vision of folks like Elon Musk who claimed that we are going to see an exponential improvement in self driving cars among other things (he actually said that before a Tesla drove over a pedestrian).

In the attempt of democratizing machine learning, data scientists should have the possibility to train their models on data they do not necessarily own, nor see. A model that is privately trained should be verified and uniquely identified across its entire life cycle, from its random initialization to setting the optimal values of its parameters. How does blockchain allow all this? Fitchain is the decentralized machine learning platform that provides models an identity and a certification of their training procedure, the proof-of-train

I know, I have been away too long without publishing much in the last 3 months. But, there's a reason for that. I have been building a platform that combines machine learning with blockchain technology. Let me introduce you to fitchain and tell you more in this episode. If you want to collaborate on the project or just think it's interesting, drop me a line on the contact page at fitchain.io

Cross-posting from Cryptoradio.io Overview Francesco Gadaleta introduces Fitchain, a decentralized machine learning platform that combines blockchain technology and AI to solve the data manipulation problem in restrictive environments such as healthcare or financial institutions.Francesco Gadaleta is the founder of Fitchain.io and senior advisor to Abe AI. Fitchain is a platform that officially started in October 2017, which allows data scientists to write machine learning models on data they cannot see and access due to restrictions imposed in healthcare or financial environments. In the Fitchain platform, there are two actors, the data owner and the data scientist. They both run the Fitchain POD, which orchestrates the relationship between these two sides. The idea behind Fitchain is summarized in the thesis “do not move the data, move the model – bring the model where the data is stored.” The Fitchain team has also coined a new term called “proof of train” – a way to guarantee that the model is truly trained at the organization, and that it becomes traceable on the blockchain. To develop the complex technological aspects of the platform, Fitchain has partnered up with BigChainDB, the project we have recently featured on Crypto Radio. Roadmap Fitchain team is currently validating the assumptions and increasing the security of the platform. In the next few months, they will extend the portfolio of machine learning libraries and are planning to move from a B2B product towards a Fitchain for consumers. By June 2018 they plan to start the Internet of PODs. They will also design the Fitchain token – FitCoin, which will be a utility token to enable operating on the Fitchain platform.  

Data is a complex topic, not only related to machine learning algorithms, but also and especially to privacy and security of individuals, the same individuals who create such data just by using the many mobile apps and services that characterize their digital life. In this episode I am together with B.J.n Mendelson, author of “Social Media is Bullshit” from St. Martin’s Press and world-renowned speaker on issues involving the myths and realities involving today’s Internet platforms.  B.J. has a new a book about privacy and sent me a free copy of "Privacy, and how to get it back" that I read in just one day. That was enough to realise how much we have in common when it comes to data and data collection.  

Despite what researchers claim about genetic evolution, in this episode we give a realistic view of the field.

In order to succeed with artificial intelligence, it is better to know how to fail first. It is easier than you think. Here are 9 easy steps to fail your AI startup.

The enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is raising some concerns especially with respect to some ventured conclusions about what AI can really do and what its direct descendent, artificial general intelligence would be capable of doing in the immediate future. From stealing jobs, to exterminating the entire human race, the creativity (of some) seems to have no limits.  In this episode I make sure that everyone comes back to reality - which might sound less exciting than Hollywood but definitely more... real.