Definition
Plain language
A way of squeezing data down close to its smallest possible size by encoding a whole message as one very precise number.
As stated in the literature
An entropy-coding compression technique that represents an entire input as a single fractional value within a recursively subdivided interval; used as the sampling substrate for token-level steganographic channels.
Why it matters: It matters because packing data close to its theoretical minimum size saves storage and bandwidth, and its precise number-picking can double as a channel for hidden messages.
For example, a long message can be turned into a single very long decimal number that, when decoded, reproduces the message exactly.
Heard on the show
“It picks its own, arithmetic coding with a keyed token shuffle, and buries it in the code.”Episode 184 — An AI Built an Undetectable Secret Channel, And Another AI Couldn't Find It