The NetFlix Prize - 2 years later
I had read about the Netflix Prize when it was first announced and was drawn to it just like other people from all aspects of life. Mathematicians to psychologists alike have flocked towards it, vying for the 1 million dollar prize. You can view the current leaderboard here.
I find this very exciting because this problem has the elements of the greatest battle of our times - Man vs. Machine.
Can we really program collective intelligence? Can a machine actually predict human behavior with relative success? Of course the “humanization” of our choices can neither be discounted nor predicted. It will always be impossible to compute “I did it on a whim”.
But I do think it is close. I’ve agreed with my iTunes recommendations equally (if not more) than some of my friends recommending me music over the years…same with my NetFlix recommendations.
And with all of us increasing the amount of personal information (TMI in most cases) we have started sharing on the internet…it poses some interesting options as to how “machine choice” will affect our lives?
I just bought an iPod Nano from Amazon.com and based on my buying habits it is recommending that I buy a 62″ HD-Ready LCD for $6000. My wife thinks I’m crazy…..wife or Amazon. hmmmm…..
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