ML Conference Rebuttal Culture Under Fire — Researchers Say Additional Experiments Make Papers Worse
r/MachineLearning·low signal
An 89-upvote discussion on r/MachineLearning (17 comments) critiques the growing trend of reviewers demanding additional experiments during the rebuttal phase, arguing it makes papers worse rather than better. The poster notes that 3-5 years ago it was common for reviews to say 'I don't have major concerns,' but the field has shifted to requiring increasingly onerous supplementary work that dilutes paper quality. This reflects broader frustration with ML conference gatekeeping and the escalating benchmark arms race.