Did Microsoft use Bayesian inference in Microsoft Office for its pop-up cartoon paperclip?
They started off in very basic implementations. They’re trying to do some other things. A lot of the help system apparently in XP–where it actually works out where to take you in the Help and how to interpret your problem–is Bayesian driven. We’re much more specialists in using Bayesian methods to understand the meaning of rich content. You’ve got a roster of clients–the U.S. Defense Department, General Motors, Procter & Gamble–big organizations that need to sort through unstructured data. To what degree has Bayesian Theory moved beyond academia to the technology industry? Is it still at a relatively early stage? Well, what’s your opinion on jet engines when you fly to New York? Do you worry about the bypass ratios very much? It’s not at the top of my list. That’s the point. Autonomy has nearly all the top players as you go down each industry. They don’t care (about Bayesian Theory.) What they care about is that when they try the stuff, it works. And it does things you cannot do us
