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new_name_who_dis_ t1_izzo58u wrote

I totally buy this. However you said

> Classical methods outperform Machine Learning methods in terms of speed, accuracy, and cost

those classical methods are also machine learning methods. Classic AI methods usually refers to non-statistical methods

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TaXxER t1_j00kcrd wrote

When I hear “classical methods” I associate that with traditional statistical methods that often aren’t even considered ML.

Note that frequentist stats also go by the name of classical methods (as opposed to Bayesian methods).

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Delta-tau t1_j01aysc wrote

In statistics jargon, classical methods are all frequentist inference methods which rely on asymptotic theory and p-values. Some of them, like linear regression, logistic regression, or ARMA models are nowadays viewed as ML. I guess the "ML" label is a bit vague and changes over time.

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TaXxER t1_j01xpkt wrote

Yeah I’m aware that linear and logistic regression are classical methods and are in the weird spot where they sometimes are and sometimes are not regarded as ML.

My comment was mostly aimed to argue against this claim in the comment that I replied to:

> Classic AI methods usually refers to non-statistical methods

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xgboostftw t1_j02ifkc wrote

I think the terminology is more common in the forecasting niche where (especially since the M4, M5 competitions) they started to separate out tree and NN architectures into "ML" and all other methods used for last 50 years are deemed "classical".

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Delta-tau t1_j02rk0k wrote

Yeah I guess "classical" can mean different things depending on the context.

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new_name_who_dis_ t1_j021jgc wrote

I have the same association as you if I hear classic (ML) methods. But not classic (AI) methods, those I associate with good old fashioned AI, which aren't statistical.

Maybe it's just me, idk. I studied AI in philosophy long before I took an ML class. And I took my first intro to ML class before they were teaching deep learning in intro to ML classes (though i missed this cut-off only by a year or two haha).

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Quantum22 t1_j005mab wrote

Classic AI methods being "non-statistical methods" refers to NNs or business logic?

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new_name_who_dis_ t1_j006be0 wrote

Refers to what’s called symbolic ai that uses logic, and deductions.

Idk what business logic is but maybe. Definitely not neural nets.

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Quantum22 t1_j00ckvp wrote

Ahhh yes thanks, I recall Symbolic AI and "GOFAI"

Business logic usually refers to the rules that are applied in a software system, could be if/then type statements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_logic

So your answer is correct, but it seems like business logic may be similar, while much more basic and with a different scope.

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Delta-tau t1_j01adhb wrote

So what is an example of a non-statistical method?

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new_name_who_dis_ t1_j020yfl wrote

Search + hard-coded (expert provided) rules, for example. Deep Blue that beat Kasparov didn't have any statistics in it iirc.

Deductive reasoning (as opposed to inductive which is what statistical/ML methods are), so like reasoning from first principles that are hard coded into the system.

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