Interactive Computation and Artificial Epistemologies

What is algorithmic thought? It is not possible to address this question without first reflecting on how the Universal Turing Machine transformed symbolic logic and brought to a halt the universality of mathematical formalism and the biocentric speciation of thought. The article draws on Sylvia Wynter’s discussion of the sociogenic principle to argue that both neurocognitive and formal models of automated cognition constitute the epistemological explanations of the origin of the human and of human sapience. Wynter’s argument will be related to Gilbert Simondon’s reflections on ‘technical mentality’ to consider how socio-techno-genic assemblages can challenge the biocentricism and the formalism of modern epistemology. This article turns to ludic logic as one possible example of techno-semiotic languages as a speculative overturning of sociogenic programming. Algorithmic rules become technique-signs coinciding not with classic formalism but with interactive localities without re-originating the universality of colonial and patriarchal cosmogony.

Verified Interactive Computation of Definite Integrals

Symbolic computation is involved in many areas of mathematics, as well as in analysis of physical systems in science and engineering. Computer algebra systems present an easy-to-use interface for performing these calculations, but do not provide strong guarantees of correctness. In contrast, interactive theorem proving provides much stronger guarantees of correctness, but requires more time and expertise. In this paper, we propose a general framework for combining these two methods, and demonstrate it using computation of definite integrals. It allows the user to carry out step-by-step computations in a familiar user interface, while also verifying the computation by translating it to proofs in higher-order logic. The system consists of an intermediate language for recording computations, proof automation for simplification and inequality checking, and heuristic integration methods. A prototype is implemented in Python based on HolPy, and tested on a large collection of examples at the undergraduate level.

Interactive Computation of Timbre Spaces for Sound Synthesis Control

Expressive sonic interaction with sound synthesizers requires the control of a continuous and high dimensional space. Further, the relationship between synthesis variables and timbre of the generated sound is typically complex or unknown to users. In previous works, we presented an unsupervised mapping method based on machine listening and machine learning techniques, which addresses these challenges by providing a low-dimensional and perceptually related timbre control space. The mapping maximizes the breadth of the explorable sonic space covered by the sound synthesizer, and minimizes possible timbre losses due to the low­-dimensional control. The mapping is generated automatically by a system requiring little input from users. In this paper we present an improved method and an optimized implementation that drastically reduce the time for timbre analysis and mapping computation. Here we introduce the use of the extreme learning machines for the regression from control to timbre spaces, and an interactive approach for the analysis of the synthesizer sonic response, performed as users explore the parameters of the instrument. This work is implemented in a generic and open-source tool that enables the computation of ad hoc synthesis mappings through timbre spaces, facilitating and speeding up the workflow to get a customized sonic control system.

Company Value with Ruin Constraint in Lundberg Models

In this note we study the problem of company values with a ruin constraint in classical continuous time Lundberg models. For this, we adapt the methods and results for discrete de Finetti models to time and state continuous Lundberg models. The policy improvement method works also in continuous models, but it is slow and needs discretization. Better results can be obtained faster using the barrier method for discrete models which can be adjusted for Lundberg models. In this method, dividend strategies are considered which are based on barrier sequences. In our continuous state model, optimal barriers can be computed with the Lagrange method leading to a backward recursion scheme. The resulting dividend strategies will not always be optimal: in the case without ruin constraint, there are examples in which band strategies are superior. We also develop equations for optimal control of dynamic reinsurance to maximize the company value under a ruin constraint. These identify the optimal reinsurance strategy in no action regions and allow for an interactive computation of the value function. We apply the methods in a numerical example with exponential claims.

On defining and modeling context-awareness

Purpose This paper aims to present a methodology for defining and modeling context-awareness and describing efficiently the interactions between systems, applications and their context. Also, the relation of modern context-aware systems with distributed computation is investigated. Design/methodology/approach On this purpose, definitions of context and context-awareness are developed based on the theory of computation and especially on a computational model for interactive computation which extends the classical Turing Machine model. The computational model proposed here encloses interaction and networking capabilities for computational machines. Findings The definition of context presented here develops a mathematical framework for working with context. Also, the modeling approach of distributed computing enables us to build robust, scalable and detailed models for systems and application with context-aware capabilities. Also, it enables us to map the procedures that support context-aware operations providing detailed descriptions about the interactions of applications with their context and other external sources. Practical implications A case study of a cloud-based context-aware application is examined using the modeling methodology described in the paper so as to demonstrate the practical usage of the theoretical framework that is presented. Originality/value The originality on the framework presented here relies on the connection of context-awareness with the theory of computation and distributed computing.