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Dataflow Matrix Machines and V-values: A Bridge Between Programs and Neural Nets (arxiv.org)
2 points by espeed on Feb 11, 2018 | hide | past | pdf | discuss on HN

In plain words: Instead of plain numbers, networks pass streams that can be added and scaled, so each unit can take or return many inputs, making the network a program. It is stored as a matrix of numbers, so tiny tweaks change the program slightly, unlike ordinary code.

Abstract · Dataflow Matrix Machines and V-values: a Bridge between Programs and Neural Nets

1) Dataflow matrix machines (DMMs) generalize neural nets by replacing streams of numbers with linear streams (streams supporting linear combinations), allowing arbitrary input and output arities for activation functions, countable-sized networks with finite dynamically changeable active part capable of unbounded growth, and a very expressive self-referential mechanism. 2) DMMs are suitable for general-purpose programming, while retaining the key property of recurrent neural networks: programs are expressed via matrices of real numbers, and continuous changes to those matrices produce arbitrarily small variations in the associated programs. 3) Spaces of V-values (vector-like elements based on nested maps) are particularly useful, enabling DMMs with variadic activation functions and conveniently representing conventional data structures.

Michael Bukatin, Jon Anthony
arXiv:1712.07447 · cs.NE, cs.PL · submitted Dec 20, 2017 · updated May 23, 2018
abstract · pdf · html · 28 pages, 5 figures; appeared in "K + K = 120: Papers dedicated to Laszlo Kalman and Andras Kornai on the occasion of their 60th birthdays" Festschrift; http://www.nytud.hu/kk120

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