Ben Recht
@beenwrekt.bsky.social
The only argument advanced by proponents of blind peer-review boils down to "less powerful people can't criticize powerful people in public," the same argument people make when advocating for anonymity on social media.
In light of the new OpenReview identity-leak scandal, it's a good time to question our assumptions about why blinding in peer review is helpful in the first place.
November 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The only argument advanced by proponents of blind peer-review boils down to "less powerful people can't criticize powerful people in public," the same argument people make when advocating for anonymity on social media.
Randomly amusing myself while traveling: many people believe a large fraction of the reviewer pools of the big AI/ML conferences are master's students and undergraduates. Fact or fiction?
I'd at least like transparency about the demographics of the reviewer pools at the megaconferences.
November 29, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Randomly amusing myself while traveling: many people believe a large fraction of the reviewer pools of the big AI/ML conferences are master's students and undergraduates. Fact or fiction?
In light of the new OpenReview identity-leak scandal, it's a good time to question our assumptions about why blinding in peer review is helpful in the first place.
November 29, 2025 at 10:08 AM
In light of the new OpenReview identity-leak scandal, it's a good time to question our assumptions about why blinding in peer review is helpful in the first place.
You couldn't pay me to watch 49ers-Panthers, but apparently Seth Walder advocates for going 2 down 8 in the third quarter. It's a strategy that can't fail. ❌❌❌
Dave Canales failed the down 8 test ❌❌❌
November 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
You couldn't pay me to watch 49ers-Panthers, but apparently Seth Walder advocates for going 2 down 8 in the third quarter. It's a strategy that can't fail. ❌❌❌
Does Anthropic let its interviewees use Claude Code?
November 20, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Does Anthropic let its interviewees use Claude Code?
Justifying generative modeling and the principle of maximum likelihood in a single blog post.
Digitally Twinning
Justifying generative modeling and the principle of maximum likelihood
www.argmin.net
November 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Justifying generative modeling and the principle of maximum likelihood in a single blog post.
The NIMBYs are coming for Waymo... looking forward to the first filed CEQA complaint.
'Nobody asked for this': Waymo cars flock to quiet Palo Alto street
Palo Alto resident Ben Baum rose like normal before sunrise on Saturday morning, coffee in hand, and watched from his window as a driverless Waymo drove by. Then a second. Then a third. In total, Baum...
www.paloaltoonline.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The NIMBYs are coming for Waymo... looking forward to the first filed CEQA complaint.
This article about "AI is taking entry-level jobs" was making the rounds yesterday... but the author uses LinkedIn as primary sourcing. Come on, man.
‘There’s Just No Reason to Deal With Young Employees’
AI is taking entry-level jobs. What happens when Gen-Z-ers can’t start their careers?
nymag.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:51 PM
This article about "AI is taking entry-level jobs" was making the rounds yesterday... but the author uses LinkedIn as primary sourcing. Come on, man.
A reduction of policymaking to prediction. I’ll write about why this is problematic tomorrow.
Actions from predictions
A general framework for outcome maximization. Is this reinforcement learning?
www.argmin.net
November 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
A reduction of policymaking to prediction. I’ll write about why this is problematic tomorrow.
Begun, the Butlerian Jihad has.
November 18, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Begun, the Butlerian Jihad has.
13 penalties, 12 points! great football.
More penalties than points in this Chiefs-Broncos game...
November 16, 2025 at 11:11 PM
13 penalties, 12 points! great football.
More penalties than points in this Chiefs-Broncos game...
November 16, 2025 at 10:22 PM
More penalties than points in this Chiefs-Broncos game...
Over on the Gelman blog, there's a post about this histogram of z-scores in published papers. I'm always baffled by the discourse around it. Why is this plot a symptom of a problem? Under what model would we expect this to be a bell curve?
November 15, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Over on the Gelman blog, there's a post about this histogram of z-scores in published papers. I'm always baffled by the discourse around it. Why is this plot a symptom of a problem? Under what model would we expect this to be a bell curve?
A brief introduction to adaptive experimentation without the words "exploration-exploitation tradeoff," "multi-armed bandit," or "reinforcement learning."
How to pick a sample size.
A brief introduction to adaptive experimentation without saying "exploration-exploitation tradeoff."
www.argmin.net
November 13, 2025 at 3:53 PM
A brief introduction to adaptive experimentation without the words "exploration-exploitation tradeoff," "multi-armed bandit," or "reinforcement learning."
Following up on Monday’s discussion, I articulate a few concrete positions on archives, surveys, and position papers.
The DOI Directorate
Articulating a few concrete positions on archives, surveys, and position papers
www.argmin.net
November 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Following up on Monday’s discussion, I articulate a few concrete positions on archives, surveys, and position papers.
Based on a fun conversation on here, I wrote about the arXiv position paper controversy and the weird, unwritten, organic evolution of academic practice.
A position on positions
The complex evolution of academic process doesn't always lead us to better practice.
www.argmin.net
November 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Based on a fun conversation on here, I wrote about the arXiv position paper controversy and the weird, unwritten, organic evolution of academic practice.
LOL. Sorry, @drewmagary.bsky.social.
Kevin O’Connell passed the down 8 test ✅✅✅
November 9, 2025 at 9:36 PM
LOL. Sorry, @drewmagary.bsky.social.
The Texans went for 2 down 13 in the fourth quarter and won. What do the analytics say about that one?
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
The Texans went for 2 down 13 in the fourth quarter and won. What do the analytics say about that one?
I'm still so confused by this whole dustup.
Why should peer-reviewed papers be posted to pre-print servers?
When did everyone become so committed to churning out position papers?
What happened to the public_html/ directory?
Why should peer-reviewed papers be posted to pre-print servers?
When did everyone become so committed to churning out position papers?
What happened to the public_html/ directory?
We are not "banning" reviews; we are just requiring peer review first. Good review articles are important for the field!
You can’t really blame arXiv for the decision to stop publishing computer science stuff (given the flood of slop) but this is also a textbook example of a global public good being gratuitously degraded www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I'm still so confused by this whole dustup.
Why should peer-reviewed papers be posted to pre-print servers?
When did everyone become so committed to churning out position papers?
What happened to the public_html/ directory?
Why should peer-reviewed papers be posted to pre-print servers?
When did everyone become so committed to churning out position papers?
What happened to the public_html/ directory?
Everyone knows actions are fundamentally different than predictions, but it's hard to write this distinction in math.
Staging Interventions
Actions are fundamentally different than predictions, but it's hard to write this distinction in math.
www.argmin.net
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Everyone knows actions are fundamentally different than predictions, but it's hard to write this distinction in math.
No matter what the models say, one person's statistical fact is another's statistical outlier. (Part 7 in the going-for-2-down-8 microcosm)
Learning from losers
Games are always a microcosm, and that's why I'm hooked on writing about sportsball.
www.argmin.net
November 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
No matter what the models say, one person's statistical fact is another's statistical outlier. (Part 7 in the going-for-2-down-8 microcosm)
A machine learning view of the randomized controlled trial, as a bridge from patterns to actions.
Instrumentalized Actuarial Predictions
The randomized controlled trial as a natural extension of machine learning
www.argmin.net
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
A machine learning view of the randomized controlled trial, as a bridge from patterns to actions.
alright... so...
joe flacco throws a pick 6
it gets called back on BS grounds
bengals score TD to go down 8
go for 2 and make it
get the onside kick on the most sketchy foot contact
get another TD to go up 1
forget to tackle the bears tight end who scores
flacco throws a pick
bengals lose
joe flacco throws a pick 6
it gets called back on BS grounds
bengals score TD to go down 8
go for 2 and make it
get the onside kick on the most sketchy foot contact
get another TD to go up 1
forget to tackle the bears tight end who scores
flacco throws a pick
bengals lose
November 2, 2025 at 9:40 PM
alright... so...
joe flacco throws a pick 6
it gets called back on BS grounds
bengals score TD to go down 8
go for 2 and make it
get the onside kick on the most sketchy foot contact
get another TD to go up 1
forget to tackle the bears tight end who scores
flacco throws a pick
bengals lose
joe flacco throws a pick 6
it gets called back on BS grounds
bengals score TD to go down 8
go for 2 and make it
get the onside kick on the most sketchy foot contact
get another TD to go up 1
forget to tackle the bears tight end who scores
flacco throws a pick
bengals lose
oh my
OK, I have an analytics post drafted, but there is still plenty of time left on the clock for Joe Flacco.
November 2, 2025 at 9:37 PM
oh my
OK, I have an analytics post drafted, but there is still plenty of time left on the clock for Joe Flacco.
November 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
OK, I have an analytics post drafted, but there is still plenty of time left on the clock for Joe Flacco.