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{{Short description|Phrase used in computer science}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}{{Short description|Phrase used in computer science}}
{{Redirect|GIGO|the protein subunits|Gi/Go}}
{{Redirect|GIGO|the protein subunits|Gi/Go|the Japanese arcade chain GENDA GiGO|Sega World}}


In [[computer science]], '''garbage in, garbage out''' ('''GIGO''') is the concept that flawed, or nonsense (garbage) [[input (computer science)|input]] data produces nonsense [[input/output|output]]. '''Rubbish in, rubbish out''' ('''RIRO''') is an alternate wording.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://physicsworld.com/a/machine-learning-collaborations-accelerate-materials-discovery/|title=Machine learning collaborations accelerate materials discovery|date=2019-06-30|website=Physics World|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-09-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tb43AAAAQBAJ&q=RIRO&pg=PP1|title=The Art of Creative Thinking: How to be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas|last=Adair|first=John|date=2009-02-03|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers|isbn=9780749460082|language=en|author-link=John Adair (author)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaAip-1f_DUC&q=RIRO&pg=PA23|title=Survivors: The Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind (Text Only)|last=Fortey|first=Richard|date=2011-09-01|publisher=HarperCollins UK|isbn=9780007441389|pages=23, 24|language=en|author-link=Richard Fortey}}</ref>
In [[computer science]], '''garbage in, garbage out''' ('''GIGO''') is the concept that flawed, biased or poor quality ("garbage") information or [[input (computer science)|input]] produces a result or [[input/output|output]] of similar ("garbage") quality. The adage points to the need to improve data quality in, for example, programming. '''Rubbish in, rubbish out''' ('''RIRO''') is an alternate wording.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Demming |first=Anna |date=2019-06-30 |title=Machine learning collaborations accelerate materials discovery |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/machine-learning-collaborations-accelerate-materials-discovery/ |access-date=2019-09-18 |website=Physics World |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tb43AAAAQBAJ&q=RIRO&pg=PP1|title=The Art of Creative Thinking: How to be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas|last=Adair|first=John|date=2009-02-03|publisher=Kogan Page Publishers|isbn=9780749460082|language=en|author-link=John Adair (author)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xaAip-1f_DUC&q=RIRO&pg=PA23|title=Survivors: The Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind (Text Only)|last=Fortey|first=Richard|date=2011-09-01|publisher=HarperCollins UK|isbn=9780007441389|pages=23, 24|language=en|author-link=Richard Fortey}}</ref>


The principle applies to all logical [[Argumentation theory|argumentation]]: sound [[argument]]s can lead to unsound conclusions if their [[premise]]s are flawed.
The principle applies to all logical [[Argumentation theory|argumentation]]: [[soundness]] implies [[validity (logic)|validity]], but [[validity (logic)|validity]] does not imply [[soundness]].


==History==
==History==
The expression was popular in the early days of computing. The first known use is in a 1957 syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers,<ref name="newspapers">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50687334/the-times/|title=Work With New Electronic 'Brains' Opens Field For Army Math Experts|newspaper=The Hammond Times|date=10 November 1957|page=65|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=March 20, 2016}}</ref> in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable computing device design:
The expression was popular in the early days of computing. The first known use is in a 1957 syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers,<ref name="newspapers">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50687334/the-times/|title=Work With New Electronic 'Brains' Opens Field For Army Math Experts|newspaper=The Hammond Times|date=10 November 1957|page=65|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=March 20, 2016}}</ref> in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable computing device design:


{{quote|On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"&nbsp;... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.|[[Charles Babbage]]|''Passages from the Life of a Philosopher''<ref>{{cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |year=1864 |title=Passages from the Life of a Philosopher |publisher=Longman and Co. |page=67 |oclc=258982 }}</ref>}}
{{Blockquote|On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?"&nbsp;... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.|[[Charles Babbage]]|''Passages from the Life of a Philosopher''<ref>{{cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |year=1864 |title=Passages from the Life of a Philosopher |publisher=Longman and Co. |page=67 |oclc=258982 }}</ref>}}


More recently, the [[Marine Accident Investigation Branch]] comes:
More recently, the [[Marine Accident Investigation Branch]] comes to a similar conclusion:


{{quote|A loading computer is an effective and useful tool for the safe running of a ship. However, its output can only be as accurate as the information entered into it.|[[Marine Accident Investigation Branch|MAIB]]|''SAFETY FLYER Hoegh Osaka: Listing, flooding and grounding on 3 January 2015''<ref>{{cite web
{{Blockquote|A loading computer is an effective and useful tool for the safe running of a ship. However, its output can only be as accurate as the information entered into it.|[[Marine Accident Investigation Branch|MAIB]]|''SAFETY FLYER Hoegh Osaka: Listing, flooding and grounding on 3 January 2015''<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508444/HoeghOsaka_Flyer.pdf|title=SAFETY FLYER|author=MAIB|date=2016-03-17|publisher=[[Marine Accident Investigation Branch|MAIB]]|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref>}}
|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508444/HoeghOsaka_Flyer.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325074446/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508444/HoeghOsaka_Flyer.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-25 |url-status=live|title=SAFETY FLYER|author=MAIB|date=2016-03-17|publisher=[[Marine Accident Investigation Branch|MAIB]]|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref>}}


The term may have been derived from [[LIFO (computing)|last-in, first-out]] (LIFO) or [[FIFO (computing and electronics)|first-in, first-out]] (FIFO).<ref name="worldwidewords">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gar1.htm|title=Garbage in, garbage out|last=Quinion|first=Michael|date=5 November 2005|work=World Wide Words|access-date=2012-02-26}}</ref>
The term may have been derived from [[LIFO (computing)|last-in, first-out]] (LIFO) or [[first-in, first-out]] (FIFO).<ref name="worldwidewords">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gar1.htm|title=Garbage in, garbage out|last=Quinion|first=Michael|date=5 November 2005|work=World Wide Words|access-date=2012-02-26}}</ref>

{{quote|Decision-makers increasingly face computer-generated information and analyses that could be collected and analyzed in no other way. Precisely for that reason, going behind that output is out of the question, even if one has good cause to be suspicious. In short, the computer analysis becomes a credible references point although based on poor data.|Daniel T. Brooks, Brandon Becker and Jerry R. Marlatt|''Computer Applications in Particular Industries: Securities''<ref>{{cite book|author1=Daniel T. Brooks|author2=Brandon Becker|author3=Jerry R. Marlatt|chapter=Computer Applications in Particular Industries: Securities|title=Computers & The Law, American Bar Association, Section of Science and Technology|edition= Third| year=1981 |pages= 250, 253}}</ref>}}


==Uses==
==Uses==
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2023}}
This phrase can be used as an explanation for the poor quality of a digitized audio or video file. Although [[digitizing]] can be the first step in cleaning up a signal, it does not, by itself, improve the quality. Defects in the original analog signal will be faithfully recorded, but might be identified and removed by a subsequent step by [[digital signal processing]].
This phrase can be used as an explanation for the poor quality of a digitized audio or video file. Although [[digitizing]] can be the first step in cleaning up a signal, it does not, by itself, improve the quality. Defects in the original analog signal will be faithfully recorded, but might be identified and removed by a subsequent step by [[digital signal processing]].


GIGO is also used to describe failures in human [[decision-making]] due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.
GIGO is also used to describe failures in human [[decision-making]] due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.<ref>{{FOLDOC|Garbage+in%2C+garbage+out}}</ref>


In [[audiology]], GIGO describes the process that occurs at the [[dorsal cochlear nucleus]] (DCN) when [[auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder]] is present. This occurs when the neural firing from the cochlea has become unsynchronized, resulting in a static-filled sound being input into the DCN and then passed up the chain to the auditory cortex.<ref>Berlin, Hood, Russell, Morlet et al (2010) [http://csd.cbcs.usf.edu/an/Berlin_ANSD.pdf Multi-site diagnosis and management of 260 patients with Auditory Neuropathy-Dys-synchrony (Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder)]</ref> The term was coined by Dan Schwartz at the 2012 Worldwide ANSD Conference, St. Petersburg, Florida, on 16 March 2012; and adopted as industry jargon to describe the electrical signal received ay the [[dorsal cochlear nucleus]] and passed up the auditory chain to the [[superior olivary complex]] on the way to the [[auditory cortex]] destination.
In [[audiology]], GIGO describes the process that occurs at the [[dorsal cochlear nucleus]] (DCN) when [[auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder]] is present. This occurs when the neural firing from the cochlea has become unsynchronized, resulting in a static-filled sound being input into the DCN and then passed up the chain to the auditory cortex.<ref>Berlin, Hood, Russell, Morlet et al (2010) [http://csd.cbcs.usf.edu/an/Berlin_ANSD.pdf Multi-site diagnosis and management of 260 patients with Auditory Neuropathy-Dys-synchrony (Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder)]</ref> The term was applied by Dan Schwartz at the 2012 Worldwide ANSD Conference, St. Petersburg, Florida, on 16 March 2012; and adopted as industry jargon to describe the electrical signal received by the [[dorsal cochlear nucleus]] and passed up the auditory chain to the [[superior olivary complex]] on the way to the [[auditory cortex]] destination.{{fact|date=February 2023}}


GIGO was the name of a [[Usenet]] gateway program to [[FidoNet]], MAUSnet, e.a.<ref>{{cite web
GIGO was the name of a [[Usenet]] gateway program to [[FidoNet]], MAUSnet, e.a.<ref>{{cite web
Line 38: Line 37:
* [[Standard error]]
* [[Standard error]]
* [[Undefined behavior]]
* [[Undefined behavior]]
* [[Data processing inequality]]
* [[No free lunch theorem]]


== References ==
== References ==
Line 43: Line 44:


[[Category:Computer errors]]
[[Category:Computer errors]]
[[Category:Computer humor]]
[[Category:Computer humour]]
[[Category:Computer jargon]]
[[Category:Computer jargon]]

Latest revision as of 15:37, 5 November 2024

"GIGO" redirects here. For the protein subunits, see Gi/Go. For the Japanese arcade chain GENDA GiGO, see Sega World.

In computer science, garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) is the concept that flawed, biased or poor quality ("garbage") information or input produces a result or output of similar ("garbage") quality. The adage points to the need to improve data quality in, for example, programming. Rubbish in, rubbish out (RIRO) is an alternate wording.[1][2][3]

The principle applies to all logical argumentation: soundness implies validity, but validity does not imply soundness.

History

[edit]

The expression was popular in the early days of computing. The first known use is in a 1957 syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers,[4] in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable computing device design:

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.

— Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher[5]

More recently, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch comes to a similar conclusion:

A loading computer is an effective and useful tool for the safe running of a ship. However, its output can only be as accurate as the information entered into it.

— MAIB, SAFETY FLYER Hoegh Osaka: Listing, flooding and grounding on 3 January 2015[6]

The term may have been derived from last-in, first-out (LIFO) or first-in, first-out (FIFO).[7]

Uses

[edit]

This phrase can be used as an explanation for the poor quality of a digitized audio or video file. Although digitizing can be the first step in cleaning up a signal, it does not, by itself, improve the quality. Defects in the original analog signal will be faithfully recorded, but might be identified and removed by a subsequent step by digital signal processing.

GIGO is also used to describe failures in human decision-making due to faulty, incomplete, or imprecise data.[8]

In audiology, GIGO describes the process that occurs at the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) when auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder is present. This occurs when the neural firing from the cochlea has become unsynchronized, resulting in a static-filled sound being input into the DCN and then passed up the chain to the auditory cortex.[9] The term was applied by Dan Schwartz at the 2012 Worldwide ANSD Conference, St. Petersburg, Florida, on 16 March 2012; and adopted as industry jargon to describe the electrical signal received by the dorsal cochlear nucleus and passed up the auditory chain to the superior olivary complex on the way to the auditory cortex destination.[citation needed]

GIGO was the name of a Usenet gateway program to FidoNet, MAUSnet, e.a.[10]

See also

[edit]
Look up garbage in, garbage out or GIGO in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Demming, Anna (June 30, 2019). "Machine learning collaborations accelerate materials discovery". Physics World. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  2. ^ Adair, John (February 3, 2009). The Art of Creative Thinking: How to be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas. Kogan Page Publishers. ISBN 9780749460082.
  3. ^ Fortey, Richard (September 1, 2011). Survivors: The Animals and Plants that Time has Left Behind (Text Only). HarperCollins UK. pp. 23, 24. ISBN 9780007441389.
  4. ^ "Work With New Electronic 'Brains' Opens Field For Army Math Experts". The Hammond Times. November 10, 1957. p. 65. Retrieved March 20, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Babbage, Charles (1864). Passages from the Life of a Philosopher. Longman and Co. p. 67. OCLC 258982.
  6. ^ MAIB (March 17, 2016). "SAFETY FLYER" (PDF). MAIB. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  7. ^ Quinion, Michael (November 5, 2005). "Garbage in, garbage out". World Wide Words. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  8. ^ This article is based on material taken from Garbage+in%2C+garbage+out at the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.
  9. ^ Berlin, Hood, Russell, Morlet et al (2010) Multi-site diagnosis and management of 260 patients with Auditory Neuropathy-Dys-synchrony (Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder)
  10. ^ jfesler (January 1, 2001). "GIGO History". gigo.com. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
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