The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World

by Pedro Domingos

In the information-processing ecosystem, learners are the superpredators. Databases, crawlers, indexers, and so on are the herbivores, patiently munging on endless fields of data. Statistical algorithms, online analytical processing, and so on are the predators. Herbivores are necessary, since without them the others couldn’t exist, but superpredators have a more exciting life. A crawler is like a cow, the web is its worldwide meadow, each page is a blade of grass. When the crawler is done munging, a copy of the web is sitting on its hard disks. An indexer then makes a list of the pages where each word appears, much like the index at the end of a book. Databases, like elephants, are big and heavy and never forget. Among these patient beasts dart statistical and analytical algorithms, compacting and selecting, turning data into information.

Circle of data life.