Data Science Decoded

Data Science #12 - Kolmogorov complexity paper review (1965) - Part 1


Listen Later

In the 12th episode we review the first part of Kolmogorov's seminal paper:

"3 approaches to the quantitative definition of information’." Problems of information transmission 1.1 (1965): 1-7.
The paper introduces algorithmic complexity (or Kolmogorov complexity), which measures the amount of information in an object based on the length of the shortest program that can describe it.

This shifts focus from Shannon entropy, which measures uncertainty probabilistically, to understanding the complexity of structured objects.


Kolmogorov argues that systems like texts or biological data, governed by rules and patterns, are better analyzed by their compressibility—how efficiently they can be described—rather than by random probabilistic models.

In modern data science and AI, these ideas are crucial. Machine learning models, like neural networks, aim to compress data into efficient representations to generalize and predict.
Kolmogorov complexity underpins the idea of minimizing model complexity while preserving key information, which is essential for preventing overfitting and improving generalization.

In AI, tasks such as text generation and data compression directly apply Kolmogorov's concept of finding the most compact representation, making his work foundational for building efficient, powerful models.

This is part 1 out of 2 episodes covering this paper

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Data Science DecodedBy Mike E

  • 3.8
  • 3.8
  • 3.8
  • 3.8
  • 3.8

3.8

5 ratings


More shows like Data Science Decoded

View all
Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,003 Listeners

The Joe Rogan Experience by Joe Rogan

The Joe Rogan Experience

229,169 Listeners

StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson

StarTalk Radio

14,322 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

890 Listeners

Talk Python To Me by Michael Kennedy

Talk Python To Me

585 Listeners

The Quanta Podcast by Quanta Magazine

The Quanta Podcast

532 Listeners

Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,401 Listeners

Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn by Jon Krohn

Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn

302 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

87,348 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,182 Listeners

Practical AI by Practical AI LLC

Practical AI

211 Listeners

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST) by Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

Machine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

95 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,512 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,272 Listeners

The Astrophysics Podcast by Paul Duffell

The Astrophysics Podcast

54 Listeners