# "The paper that killed deep learning theory" by LawrenceC

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Podcast: [LessWrong (Curated & Popular)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/lesswrong-curated-popular-5643401)
Published: 2026-04-27T10:45:19+00:00
Episode link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2037297/episodes/19082109-the-paper-that-killed-deep-learning-theory-by-lawrencec.mp3
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Duration seconds: 684

## Resource

Around 10 years ago, a paper came out that arguably killed classical deep learning theory: Zhang et al. 's aptly titled Understanding deep learning requires rethinking generalization. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration. No single paper ever kills a field of research on its own, and deep learning theory was not exactly the most productive and healthy field at the time this was published. But if I had to point to a single paper that shattered the feeling of optimism at the time, it ...

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