How Machine Learning Improves Algorithms with Ellen Vitercik

How Machine Learning Improves Algorithms with Ellen Vitercik

Author: UCTV June 29, 2026 Duration: 26:49
Hard optimization problems often look impossible through worst-case analysis, but real-world problems can contain structure that helps algorithms work faster. Ellen Vitercik, Ph.D., of Stanford University explains how machine learning can improve algorithm design for NP-hard optimization problems while preserving the formal guarantees that make solvers useful. She discusses beyond worst-case analysis, problem-specific heuristics, and the gap between tools that perform well in practice and methods that prove optimality. Vitercik also describes research on LLM reasoning using data structure tasks, where answers can be checked programmatically and failures reveal when models rely on pattern matching rather than true generalization. Her work helps clarify how AI may support stronger algorithms, more useful benchmarks, and more reliable reasoning systems. Series: "Data Science Channel" [Science] [Show ID: 41179]

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Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

University of California Video Podcasts (Video)
Podcast Episodes
Dementia in Down Syndrome: Is It Inevitable? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:31
As part of the 2026 Developmental Disabilities Conference, Dr. Peter Bulova, Professor of General Internal Medicine, The University of Pittsburgh, discusses dementia in people with Down Syndrome. Series: "Developmental D…
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Rome survived for 2,000 years. Edward Watts explores the long history of the Roman state and the lessons it offers for the modern world. From its beginnings as a small Italian city-state to its transformation into a Chri…
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Duration: 1:21:30
Fertility health affects conception and reproductive planning in important ways. Jennifer Ashby, DAOM, and Maren Shapiro, MD, explain how East Asian medicine principles and daily habits shape fertility optimization. Ashb…
How to Not Know with Simone Stolzoff [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:13
In an age obsessed with expertise, certainty, and endless self-optimization, author and journalist Simone Stolzoff invites audiences to rediscover the power of curiosity, humility, and not having all the answers. His new…