When I was first learning about neural networks, I came up with the idea of de-convolutional networks: http://www.matthewzeiler.com/
Also, I think this is not totally uncommon. I think this suggests that there is low-hanging fruit in crowd-sourcing ideas from non-experts.
Another related thing that happens is that I'll be reading a book, and I'll have a question/thought that gets talked about later in the book.
Previous open thread
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
Notes for future OT posters:
1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.
2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one.
3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.
4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.