15 January, 2008

When numbers lie

Netflix has a system of recommending movies based on movies you've rated. It's not clear to me that my delight in beautiful, kid-friendly anime such as "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away", and "Howl's Moving Castle" should imply an interest in "Ghost in the Shell" or other graphic/horror anime, but Netflix's algorithm considers this is a natural consequence. Methinks a few weight matrices could use fine-tuning.

As for the sci-fi recommendation—observe the singular—the more sci-fi shows I rate, the more determined Netflix is to tell me that I should watch "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao." The strange thing is that this recommendation is also based on my interest in "Princess Mononoke".

1 comment:

Elliot said...

I have to admit I liked Ghost in the Shell. Unlike a lot of anime, it wasn't ONLY about graphic violence and nudity and beautiful nude women performing acts of graphic violence... [eyes glaze over] ...uh, what was I saying again? Oh right. It had some depth. Partly influenced by Philip K. Dick, too - I think that's why the computer start quoting St. Paul.