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Main Author: Sterkenburg, Tom F.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20274
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author Sterkenburg, Tom F.
author_facet Sterkenburg, Tom F.
contents This chapter discusses the Solomonoff approach to universal prediction. The crucial ingredient in the approach is the notion of computability, and I present the main idea as an attempt to meet two plausible computability desiderata for a universal predictor. This attempt is unsuccessful, which is shown by a generalization of a diagonalization argument due to Putnam. I then critically discuss purported gains of the approach, in particular it providing a foundation for the methodological principle of Occam's razor, and it serving as a theoretical ideal for the development of machine learning methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_20274
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Solomonoff induction
Sterkenburg, Tom F.
Formal Languages and Automata Theory
Machine Learning
This chapter discusses the Solomonoff approach to universal prediction. The crucial ingredient in the approach is the notion of computability, and I present the main idea as an attempt to meet two plausible computability desiderata for a universal predictor. This attempt is unsuccessful, which is shown by a generalization of a diagonalization argument due to Putnam. I then critically discuss purported gains of the approach, in particular it providing a foundation for the methodological principle of Occam's razor, and it serving as a theoretical ideal for the development of machine learning methods.
title Solomonoff induction
topic Formal Languages and Automata Theory
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20274