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    Three claims of prior work in one conference anecdote

    A researcher recalls three attendees claiming a speaker’s work had been done a few, 10 and 20 years earlier.

    Russ SalakhutdinovRS
    👩‍💻 Paige Bailey👩‍💻P
    Yi MaYM
    6 Sources, ,

    TLDR

    One AI researcher jokes that some senior academics become convinced they invented new ideas years earlier. The post recalls three conference attendees successively claiming a speaker’s work had been done a few, 10 and 20 years before. Other posts discuss rediscovering small models, the value of scholarship and the timing of research.

    Combined views

    26.8K

    6 Sources, first seen 3h ago

    Combined views

    26.8K

    6 Sources, first seen 3h ago

    454 likes
    3h ago
    first seen 3h ago
    454 likes
    24 comments
    71 saves
    17 reposts
    24 comments
    71 saves
    17 reposts

    The anecdote

    In an X post, AI researcher Russ Salakhutdinov joked that some academics become more convinced with seniority that every new AI idea is something they invented years earlier—or that a successful idea is what they had been saying all along.

    Featured Source

    Salakhutdinov illustrated the point with a conference story. After a speaker presented their research, he recalled, one attendee said they had done the work a few years earlier. A second said they had done it 10 years earlier and should be cited. A third claimed to have done it 20 years earlier.

    Sentiment

    Positive——Negative

    Summary

    Not enough discussion yet.

    No sentiment analysis available yet.

    Today's Rank

    #7

    Today's Rank

    #7

    Salakhutdinov called the escalating exchange “the funniest thing ever.”

    Credit, rediscovery and timing

    Other posts picked up the theme from different angles. One argued that textbooks can help set historical credit straight, criticized what it called a lack of scholarship in AI over the past decade, and acknowledged that reinventing old ideas in new contexts can still be valuable.

    Another welcomed renewed interest in small, inexpensive, single- or few-purpose classification models such as Jev. A shorter quip compared research to timing the market.

    Sentiment

    Positive——Negative

    Summary

    Not enough discussion yet.

    No sentiment analysis available yet.

    6 Sources

    Russ Salakhutdinov@rsalakhuFun fact about (some) AI researchers / academics: the more senior you get, the more convinced you become that every new AI idea is something you already invented 20 years ago. Or, even better: wait until something actually works and then try convincing everyone that this is exactly what you’ve been saying all along. I was at a conference where a speaker was presenting their research. One academic stood up and said: what you’re doing is actually something I did a few years ago. The speaker was very polite and said thank you for pointing this out. Then a second researcher stood up and said, well I already did it this 10 years ago, you should cite my work. Then a third person said, I already did all of this about 20 years ago. It was the funniest thing ever.3h
    👩‍💻 Paige Bailey@DynamicWebPaige:: quietly just happy that the world is rediscovering tiny, useful, cheap, single-purpose or few-purpose classification models like Jev. we were onto something! 😁 ::1h
    Yi Ma@YiMaTweetsDon't worry, there will always be people like me who has nothing better to do but write textbooks. We will most likely set the history hence credits straight. I hope, at some point, AI can do this job for us after gathering all facts. Regardless, the lack of scholarship by people in the AI field in the past decade has been astonishing for an old schooler like me, though admittedly there is good value in reinventing good ideas under new contexts.1h
    Xiao Ma@infoxiao@rsalakhu i guess there is such a thing as timing the market in research1h
    Bojan Tunguz@tunguzAcademic research is the worst statusmaxxing grift ever.1h

    6 Sources

    Russ Salakhutdinov@rsalakhuFun fact about (some) AI researchers / academics: the more senior you get, the more convinced you become that every new AI idea is something you already invented 20 years ago. Or, even better: wait until something actually works and then try convincing everyone that this is exactly what you’ve been saying all along. I was at a conference where a speaker was presenting their research. One academic stood up and said: what you’re doing is actually something I did a few years ago. The speaker was very polite and said thank you for pointing this out. Then a second researcher stood up and said, well I already did it this 10 years ago, you should cite my work. Then a third person said, I already did all of this about 20 years ago. It was the funniest thing ever.3h
    👩‍💻 Paige Bailey@DynamicWebPaige:: quietly just happy that the world is rediscovering tiny, useful, cheap, single-purpose or few-purpose classification models like Jev. we were onto something! 😁 ::1h
    Yi Ma@YiMaTweetsDon't worry, there will always be people like me who has nothing better to do but write textbooks. We will most likely set the history hence credits straight. I hope, at some point, AI can do this job for us after gathering all facts. Regardless, the lack of scholarship by people in the AI field in the past decade has been astonishing for an old schooler like me, though admittedly there is good value in reinventing good ideas under new contexts.1h
    Xiao Ma@infoxiao@rsalakhu i guess there is such a thing as timing the market in research1h
    Bojan Tunguz@tunguzAcademic research is the worst statusmaxxing grift ever.1h