Sunday 2 March 2014

Algorithize!

While writing a technical memo, I had to come up with a made-up English word which I thought should have been a mainstream word by now. A quick google search showed a few souls have come up with independently. Nevertheless, in line with the true spirit of the word itself, I want to be the first to formally describe it with a dictionary-style definition


Algorithize (verb):

The act of converting a rather ad-hoc and manual process conducted with implicit constraints, assumptions and rules (otherwise known as intuition or common sense) into a systematic one with clear and unambiguous rules at every stage such that it can be performed by a robot (or computer), in a repeatable fashion, to produce same or better effects (subject to a certain objective function).


Algorithized (adj): A manual process made algorithmic e.g. algorithized data analysis process

Algorithizable (adj): A manual process that can be algorithized i.e. totally automated with unambiguous rules that can be performed by a robot (computer)

Algorithizability (noun): Propensity of a process being algorithized i.e. totally automated with unambiguous rules that can be performed by a robot (computer)

Algorithization (noun): The process of algorithizing a manual/ad-hoc process

Algorithizer (noun): The person who performs the algorithization process 

 


There you go. Hope history remembers me for this  :)