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0 pointsacapybara3y ago0 comments

This reminds me of the criticisms of Copilot (GPT-3 application to generate computer code).

Many engineers will say it doesn't code. It just regurgitates and remixes the data it was trained on. It just makes "meta-heuristic guesses."

But anyone taking an honest and objective view of it can see that Copilot does add value. It's no substitute for a real, human, engineer, but it clearly adds value.

I don't think AlphaFold would get to this level of funding, resource commitment, etc. if it was adding 0 value.

Being a domain expert, I'm curious what value, if any, you think a large transformer model could add to the domain of protein folding. Is it really zero value, in your view?

0 comments

misnome3y ago

> I don't think AlphaFold would get to this level of funding, resource commitment, etc. if it was adding 0 value

They didn't say that it added zero value, that's entirely you. They said that it doesn't solve the problem on its' own, which is true.

m00x3y ago

The computer doesn't solve problems on its own, but it is objectively a breakthrough technology. It's pretty clear that AlphaFold is a phenomenal innovation.

mnd9993y ago

Copilot adds value to Gitlab if that’s what you mean.

falcor843y ago

Did you mean "GitHub", or did I miss the joke?

mnd9993y ago

Yeah, you missed it.

GitHub ripping off everyone’s code to build copilot has caused a small (not as big as it should have been imho) exodus of open source projects to Gitlab and others.

I still don’t see how it’s a good idea to import unknown code with unknown licenses into your project, but apparently if copilot does it it’s okay.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

misnome3y ago

> I don't think AlphaFold would get to this level of funding, resource commitment, etc. if it was adding 0 value

They didn't say that it added zero value, that's entirely you. They said that it doesn't solve the problem on its' own, which is true.

m00x3y ago

The computer doesn't solve problems on its own, but it is objectively a breakthrough technology. It's pretty clear that AlphaFold is a phenomenal innovation.

mnd9993y ago

Copilot adds value to Gitlab if that’s what you mean.

falcor843y ago

Did you mean "GitHub", or did I miss the joke?

mnd9993y ago

Yeah, you missed it.

GitHub ripping off everyone’s code to build copilot has caused a small (not as big as it should have been imho) exodus of open source projects to Gitlab and others.

I still don’t see how it’s a good idea to import unknown code with unknown licenses into your project, but apparently if copilot does it it’s okay.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse