2008 Woodie Awards
Predicting taste: To each his or her own
Jeremy Sullivan
Issue date: 12/1/08 Section: Opinion
They say there's no accounting for taste, but that doesn't stop people from trying to understand why we like the things we do.
Netflix uses a computer program called Cinematch to guess whether you'll like a movie. After you rate several movies, Cinematch generates suggestions from among films you haven't rated. Amazon and other retailers use similar programs to try to anticipate user tastes.
According to a recent article in The New York Times, the folks at Netflix have offered a $1 million prize to any programmer who can improve Cinematch's predictive ability by 10 percent. Thus far nobody has claimed the prize, in part because of what one of the programmers called the "Napoleon Dynamite problem."
Napoleon Dynamite generates extreme ratings from users: People either love it or hate it. Even folks who agree on many other movies often disagree about Jon Heder's breakthrough film. This is a problem for Netflix, because ultimately Cinematch determines its predictions based on a comparison between viewer ratings.
Cinematch does not really know anything about your personal taste. It can only guess what you'll like in relation to what other people have liked. If you and I have given five stars to a lot of the same movies, Cinematch guesses you'll like other movies I've rated highly.
This works pretty well up to a point, but nobody has claimed the $1 million because when we rate movies "Loved it" or "Hated it," we do not reveal why we liked or hated the film. Even folks who agree on a lot of films can disagree about some others.
For example, I can't stand Rushmore. This is baffling to some of my friends who love the movie and whose tastes in movies are usually similar to mine. Netflix's guess was that I'd rate the movie with four stars, but I give it a one - I hated it.
Why do I hate Rushmore? I find the lead character annoying and unlikable, I think the music cues are emotionally manipulative, and I think the plot is either boring or ridiculous.
Netflix uses a computer program called Cinematch to guess whether you'll like a movie. After you rate several movies, Cinematch generates suggestions from among films you haven't rated. Amazon and other retailers use similar programs to try to anticipate user tastes.
According to a recent article in The New York Times, the folks at Netflix have offered a $1 million prize to any programmer who can improve Cinematch's predictive ability by 10 percent. Thus far nobody has claimed the prize, in part because of what one of the programmers called the "Napoleon Dynamite problem."
Napoleon Dynamite generates extreme ratings from users: People either love it or hate it. Even folks who agree on many other movies often disagree about Jon Heder's breakthrough film. This is a problem for Netflix, because ultimately Cinematch determines its predictions based on a comparison between viewer ratings.
Cinematch does not really know anything about your personal taste. It can only guess what you'll like in relation to what other people have liked. If you and I have given five stars to a lot of the same movies, Cinematch guesses you'll like other movies I've rated highly.
This works pretty well up to a point, but nobody has claimed the $1 million because when we rate movies "Loved it" or "Hated it," we do not reveal why we liked or hated the film. Even folks who agree on a lot of films can disagree about some others.
For example, I can't stand Rushmore. This is baffling to some of my friends who love the movie and whose tastes in movies are usually similar to mine. Netflix's guess was that I'd rate the movie with four stars, but I give it a one - I hated it.
Why do I hate Rushmore? I find the lead character annoying and unlikable, I think the music cues are emotionally manipulative, and I think the plot is either boring or ridiculous.
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