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Multi-channel discourse as an indicator for Bitcoin price and volume movements
This research aims to identify how Bitcoin-related news publications and online discourse are expressed in Bitcoin exchange movements of price and volume. Being inherently digital, all Bitcoin-related fundamental data (from exchanges, as well as transactional data directly from the blockchain) is available online, something that is not true for traditional businesses or currencies traded on exchanges. This makes Bitcoin an interesting subject for such research, as it enables the mapping of sentiment to fundamental events that might otherwise be inaccessible. Furthermore, Bitcoin discussion largely takes place on online forums and chat channels. In stock trading, the value of sentiment data in trading decisions has been demonstrated numerous times [1] [2] [3], and this research aims to determine whether there is value in such data for Bitcoin trading models. To achieve this, data over the year 2015 has been collected from Bitcointalk.org, (the biggest Bitcoin forum in post volume), established news sources such as Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, the complete /r/btc and /r/Bitcoin subreddits, and the bitcoin-otc and bitcoin-dev IRC channels. By analyzing this data on sentiment and volume, we find weak to moderate correlations between forum, news, and Reddit sentiment and movements in price and volume from 1 to 5 days after the sentiment was expressed. A Granger causality test confirms the predictive causality of the sentiment on the daily percentage price and volume movements, and at the same time underscores the predictive causality of market movements on sentiment expressions in online communities
Towards a Near Universal Time Series Data Mining Tool: Introducing the Matrix Profile
Towards a Near Universal Time Series Data Mining Tool: Introducing the Matrix Profile by Chin-Chia Michael Yeh Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Computer Science University of California, Riverside, September 2018 Dr. Eamonn Keogh, Chairperson The last decade has seen a flurry of research on all-pairs-similarity-search (or, self-join) for text, DNA, and a handful of other datatypes, and these systems have been applied to many diverse data mining problems. Surprisingly, however, little progress has been made on addressing this problem for time series subsequences. In this thesis, we have introduced a near universal time series data mining tool called matrix profile which solves the all-pairssimilarity-search problem and caches the output in an easy-to-access fashion. The proposed algorithm is not only parameter-free, exact and scalable, but also applicable for both single and multidimensional time series. By building time series data mining methods on top of matrix profile, many time series data mining tasks (e.g., motif discovery, discord discovery, shapelet discovery, semantic segmentation, and clustering) can be efficiently solved. Because the same matrix profile can be shared by a diverse set of time series data mining methods, matrix profile is versatile and computed-once-use-many-times data structure. We demonstrate the utility of matrix profile for many time series data mining problems, including motif discovery, discord discovery, weakly labeled time series classification, and vi representation learning on domains as diverse as seismology, entomology, music processing, bioinformatics, human activity monitoring, electrical power-demand monitoring, and medicine. We hope the matrix profile is not the end but the beginning of many more time series data mining projects.
AI for the Common Good?! Pitfalls, challenges, and Ethics Pen-Testing
Recently, many AI researchers and practitioners have embarked on research visions that involve doing AI for "Good". This is part of a general drive towards infusing AI research and practice with ethical thinking. One frequent theme in current ethical guidelines is the requirement that AI be good for all, or: contribute to the Common Good. But what is the Common Good, and is it enough to want to be good? Via four lead questions, I will illustrate challenges and pitfalls when determining, from an AI point of view, what the Common Good is and how it can be enhanced by AI. The questions are: What is the problem / What is a problem?, Who defines the problem?, What is the role of knowledge?, and What are important side effects and dynamics? The illustration will use an example from the domain of "AI for Social Good", more specifically "Data Science for Social Good". Even if the importance of these questions may be known at an abstract level, they do not get asked sufficiently in practice, as shown by an exploratory study of 99 contributions to recent conferences in the field. Turning these challenges and pitfalls into a positive recommendation, as a conclusion I will draw on another characteristic of computer-science thinking and practice to make these impediments visible and attenuate them: "attacks" as a method for improving design. This results in the proposal of ethics pen-testing as a method for helping AI designs to better contribute to the Common Good.
Design Challenges of Multi-UAV Systems in Cyber-Physical Applications: A Comprehensive Survey, and Future Directions
Shakeri, Reza, Al-Garadi, Mohammed Ali, Badawy, Ahmed, Mohamed, Amr, Khattab, Tamer, Al-Ali, Abdulla, Harras, Khaled A., Guizani, Mohsen
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have recently rapidly grown to facilitate a wide range of innovative applications that can fundamentally change the way cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are designed. CPSs are a modern generation of systems with synergic cooperation between computational and physical potentials that can interact with humans through several new mechanisms. The main advantages of using UAVs in CPS application is their exceptional features, including their mobility, dynamism, effortless deployment, adaptive altitude, agility, adjustability, and effective appraisal of real-world functions anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, from the technology perspective, UAVs are predicted to be a vital element of the development of advanced CPSs. Therefore, in this survey, we aim to pinpoint the most fundamental and important design challenges of multi-UAV systems for CPS applications. We highlight key and versatile aspects that span the coverage and tracking of targets and infrastructure objects, energy-efficient navigation, and image analysis using machine learning for fine-grained CPS applications. Key prototypes and testbeds are also investigated to show how these practical technologies can facilitate CPS applications. We present and propose state-of-the-art algorithms to address design challenges with both quantitative and qualitative methods and map these challenges with important CPS applications to draw insightful conclusions on the challenges of each application. Finally, we summarize potential new directions and ideas that could shape future research in these areas.
The new geopolitics of artificial intelligence
The multilateral system urgently needs to help build a new social contract to ensure that technological innovation, in particular artificial intelligence (AI), is deployed safely and aligned with the ethical needs of a globalizing world. Swarms of bots, Facebook dark posts and fake news websites have claimed online territory, with significant repercussions globally. Just consider a few recent events: in the 2016 US presidential elections, Russia empowered one candidate over another through a massive campaign that included paid ads, fake social media accounts and polarizing content. In China, tech giants Alibaba and Tencent have deployed millions of cameras equipped with facial recognition to commodify continuous streams of intimate data about citizens. In Myanmar, a UN report confirmed that Facebook posts have fuelled virulent hate speech directed at Rohingya Muslims.
Deep Reinforcement Learning
We discuss deep reinforcement learning in an overview style. We draw a big picture, filled with details. We discuss six core elements, six important mechanisms, and twelve applications, focusing on contemporary work, and in historical contexts. We start with background of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and reinforcement learning (RL), with resources. Next we discuss RL core elements, including value function, policy, reward, model, exploration vs. exploitation, and representation. Then we discuss important mechanisms for RL, including attention and memory, unsupervised learning, hierarchical RL, multi-agent RL, relational RL, and learning to learn. After that, we discuss RL applications, including games, robotics, natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, finance, business management, healthcare, education, energy, transportation, computer systems, and, science, engineering, and art. Finally we summarize briefly, discuss challenges and opportunities, and close with an epilogue.
Fast Construction of Correcting Ensembles for Legacy Artificial Intelligence Systems: Algorithms and a Case Study
Tyukin, Ivan Y., Gorban, Alexander N., Green, Stephen, Prokhorov, Danil
This paper presents a technology for simple and computationally efficient improvements of a generic Artificial Intelligence (AI) system, including Multilayer and Deep Learning neural networks. The improvements are, in essence, small network ensembles constructed on top of the existing AI architectures. Theoretical foundations of the technology are based on Stochastic Separation Theorems and the ideas of the concentration of measure. We show that, subject to mild technical assumptions on statistical properties of internal signals in the original AI system, the technology enables instantaneous and computationally efficient removal of spurious and systematic errors with probability close to one on the datasets which are exponentially large in dimension. The method is illustrated with numerical examples and a case study of ten digits recognition from American Sign Language.
Are women in science any better off than in Ada Lovelace's day? Jess Wade
In recognition of the fact that their obituary pages had been dominated by white men, in 2018 the New York Times published an obituary of the Countess Ada Lovelace. Alongside Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson, Lovelace has become an icon for women in technology. So much so that the second Tuesday in October is recognised internationally as Ada Lovelace Day. Lovelace was from a wealthy background; her father was the poet Lord Byron and her mother, Anne Isabella Milbanke, the "princess of parallelograms", was a keen mathematician and social reformer. Social scientists of today would describe Lovelace as having high "science capital" – her well-connected parents meant her mentors and advisers were members of the British scientific elite, including the polymaths Mary Somerville and Charles Babbage.
Hyped to Death: AI Must Avoid Becoming a Cliché
Artificial intelligence (AI) is in vogue. It's almost impossible to read an article in any media outlet that doesn't mention AI and the possibility it will reshape the world in which we live. In fact, according to research conducted by AT&T, AI has the potential to double GDP growth across geographies by 2035. Consumers are already interacting with a variety of low-level AI assistants, such as Siri, Cortana, and Alexa. With respect to the telecom sector, AI – supported by machine learning (ML) – is fundamental to controlling and operating communications networks of the future.