Janelle Shane

A neural network designs Halloween costumes

By Janelle Shane On October 26, 2017 - 4 min read

It’s hard to come up with ideas for Halloween costumes, especially when it seems like all the good ones are taken. And don’t you hate showing up at a party only to discover that there’s *another* pajama cardinalfish? I train neural networks, a type of machine learning

Slashdot headlines written by neural network

By Janelle Shane On October 19, 2017 - 5 min read

The news site Slashdot [https://slashdot.org/] (“news for nerds, stuff that matters”) is celebrating its 20 year anniversary this October. What could be geekier than celebrating with the help of an open-source neural network? Neural networks are a type of machine learning program that learn by example, rather than

Computer algorithms, invented by a computer

By Janelle Shane On October 12, 2017 - 2 min read

I train neural networks, which are a type of machine learning program that imitates the way human brains learn. (Technically, they’re artificial neural networks, to differentiate them from the biological sort). Unlike traditional computer programming, where a human programmer comes up with a long set of rules for a

Trendy beer names, invented by neural network

By Janelle Shane On October 05, 2017 - 4 min read

I train neural networks, which are a type of machine learning algorithm that look at example data and learn to generate more like it. There’s little I have to do other than present a neural network with examples to look at, and it deduces its own rules, often applying

Insufficient data may not compute, but it still loves you.

By Janelle Shane On September 29, 2017 - 6 min read

I train neural networks to imitate real-life human things, from fortune cookies [http://lewisandquark.tumblr.com/post/159914835627/fortune-cookies-written-by-neural-network] to to Harry Potter fan fiction [http://lewisandquark.tumblr.com/post/164291045392/harry-potter-and-the-word-level-recurrent-neural] to guinea pig names [http://lewisandquark.tumblr.com/post/162263942282/more-neural-network-guinea-pig-names] . Unlike traditional computer programming where a human

Harry Potter spells, generated by neural network

By Janelle Shane On September 21, 2017 - 3 min read

Last week [http://lewisandquark.tumblr.com/post/165373096197/a-neural-network-learns-to-create-better-dd] , I trained a neural network [https://github.com/karpathy/char-rnn] to generate the names of magic spells from the game Dungeons and Dragons, by giving it a list of existing spells and asking it to generate more like them. It obliged,

A neural network learns to create better D&D spells

By Janelle Shane On September 15, 2017 - 3 min read

Neural networks are a type of machine learning program that learns from examples they’re given, rather than relying on a human programmer to invent rules. In an earlier experiment [http://lewisandquark.tumblr.com/post/159363915392/new-dd-magic-spells-designed-by-neural-network] , I trained a neural network to write new names for Dungeons and Dragons

Don’t use a neural network to name your next pub

By Janelle Shane On September 07, 2017 - 3 min read

The King’s Arms. The Bell and Bucket. The Black Bull Inn. The Beggar’s Bridge. A pub’s name is part of its soul, often highly unique, often hundreds of years old, often with a story behind it. A simple computer program couldn’t hope to give a proper

A neural network invents diseases you don’t want to get

By Janelle Shane On August 31, 2017 - 2 min read

Science fiction writers and producers of TV medical dramas: have you ever needed to invent a serious-sounding disease whose symptoms, progression, and cure you can utterly control? Artificial intelligence can help! Blog reader Kate [http://www.mynameiskate.com/blog/] very kindly compiled a list of 3,765 common names for

New My Little Ponies, designed by neural network

By Janelle Shane On August 24, 2017 - 3 min read

The Kingdom of Equestria is inhabited by thousands of colorful, magical ponies, whose life cycle, socioeconomics, and biomechanics are best not investigated too closely. Their names are usually something like “Rainbow Dash” or “Diamond Tiara” or (my favorite because she’s totally a grad student pony): ‘Twilight Sparkle”. Often the

A neural network designs Halloween costumes

Slashdot headlines written by neural network

Computer algorithms, invented by a computer

Trendy beer names, invented by neural network

Insufficient data may not compute, but it still loves you.

Harry Potter spells, generated by neural network

A neural network learns to create better D&D spells

Don’t use a neural network to name your next pub

A neural network invents diseases you don’t want to get

New My Little Ponies, designed by neural network

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