1 minute read

Path Wars II : The End Credits

As I’m teaching a course this term on Algorithms and another on Data Analysis and Machine Learning, I’ve been using ChatGPT to generate some colourful, alternative explanations for some of the topics of both courses and posting them here. (Part 1**, Part 3)


A fun follow-on to my previous post about my first ChatGPT query about Jedi Master Dijkstra. That was fun, and I have some other comments later on the outputs of these Large Language Models (LLMs). But to complete my lecture on Dijkstra’s algorithm I injected this generated opening crawl into the lecture. So it seemed fitting the make the end credits as well. They’re even more arcanely nerdy, but quite fun if you know enough about planning and graph algorithms.

My lecture for Dijkstra’s algorithm is live now as well and can be seen here.

End Credits

ChatGPT Prompt: list of shortest path graph algorithms as a movie end credits

Title: Shortest Path

Directed by: Graph Theory

Starring: Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford, Floyd-Warshall, A*, Johnson

Executive Producer: Edsger W. Dijkstra

Co-Producers: Richard Bellman, Robert Floyd, Stephen Warshall, Peter Hart, Nils Nilsson

Screenplay by: A* Search Algorithm

We’ve all just been living in A*’s dream all these years.

Cinematography by: Joseph Johnson

Music by: Depth-First Search

Special Effects by: Breadth-First Search

Location Manager: Randomized Algorithms

yes.

Casting Director: Kruskal’s Algorithm

Art Director: Prim’s Algorithm

Costume Designer: Hopcroft-Karp Algorithm

obviously

Makeup Artist: Edmonds-Karp Algorithm

Hair Stylist: Viterbi Algorithm

Oddly satisfying.

Stunt Coordinator: Bidirectional Search

Visual Effects Supervisor: Hierarchical Pathfinding

Production Designer: Transitive Closure

Sound Designer: Aho-Corasick Algorithm

Post-Production Supervisor: Ford-Fulkerson Algorithm

Title Designer: Topological Sorting

Marketing: Social Network Analysis

Distributors: Depth-First Search and Breadth-First Search

Oh, this feels right.

Thanks to all the graph theorists and computer scientists who contributed to the development of these algorithms.