DEV Community

iMrLopez
iMrLopez

Posted on • Originally published at blog.marnylopez.com on

How to get started with machine learning & AI

Most industry verticals are harnessing the potential of AI and machine learning, leveraging them for a brighter tomorrow while also offering many job prospects. This blog seeks to assist you in learning AI and Machine Learning online. Let's look at some of the most common questions that people who want to understand AI have.

What is machine learning?

Machine learning (ML) is a kind of artificial intelligence (AI) that permits software to develop its forecast accuracy without being specifically intended to do so. Machine learning algorithms use historical data as input to forecast new output values.

How Does Machine Learning Work?

To grasp entities, domains, and their connections, machine learning, like the human brain, requires input, such as training data or knowledge graphs. After entities have been defined, deep learning can begin. To begin the machine learning process, observations or data are needed, such as examples, direct experience, or instruction. It looks for patterns in data to make inferences from the cases given. Machine learning's primary goal is to allow computers to learn on their own, without the need for human interaction, and to balance their performance accordingly.

Major Machine Learning Techniques

Let’s go through with the techniques so that you can gather your ideas:

Estimation / Regression

For forecasting a continuous value, the regression / estimation technique is utilized. For example, estimating the CO2 emissions from a car's engine or projecting the price of a house based on its attributes.

Classification

A classification approach is used to determine a case's class or category, such as whether a cell is benign or malignant, or whether a customer would churn.

Clustering

Groups of similar cases can be used to locate similar patients or for client segmentation in the banking industry, for example.

Association

The technique is used to locate products or occurrences that frequently occur together, for as supermarket goods that are frequently purchased together by a specific customer.

Detecting Anomalies

Anomaly detection is a technique for detecting anomalous and unexpected situations, such as credit card theft.

Mining Sequences

Sequence mining is used to forecast the next occurrence, such as a website's clickstream.

Reduced Dimensions

Dimension reduction is a technique for reducing data size.

Systems of Recommendation

Finally, recommendation systems connect people's choices with those of others who share them, and suggest new goods to them, such as books or movies.

How to start learning ML?

Prerequisites For Machine Learning

To begin with Machine Learning, you must understand the following concepts:

Statistics

Statistics include tools that can be used to extract a result from data. Descriptive statistics is a type of statistics that is used to turn raw data into useful information. Inferential statistics can also be used to extract crucial information from a sample of data rather of the entire dataset.

Linear Algebra

Vectors, matrices, and linear transformations are all dealt with in linear algebra. It is crucial in machine learning since it may be used to transform and operate on datasets.

Calculus

Calculus is an essential branch of mathematics that is used in a variety of machine learning algorithms. Machine learning models are built from data sets that have various features. In order to develop a machine learning model, multivariable calculus is essential. Differentiations and integrations are also required.

Probability

Probability aids in predicting the possibility of events, It helps us in determining whether or not the situation will recur. Probability is a foundation stone for machine learning.

Programming language

To implement the entire Machine Learning process, you'll need to know programming languages like R and Python. Both Python and R include built-in libraries that make implementing Machine Learning algorithms very simple. Apart from having a fundamental understanding of programming, you should also be able to extract, process, and analyze data. One of the most significant talents for Machine Learning is this one.

Types of Learning

Machine learning can be divided into four categories:

Supervised learning: (This is also known as inductive learning) The intended outputs are included in the training data. This is not spam; learning takes place under supervision.

Unsupervised learning: Occurs when the training data does not contain the desired outputs. Clustering is a good example. It's difficult to distinguish what is good learning and what does not.

Semi-supervised learning: Incorporates a few desired outputs in the training data.

Reinforcement learning: Reinforcement learning is when a series of actions results in a reward. It is the most ambitious sort of learning, according to AI categories.

Most machine learning algorithms use supervised learning, which is the most mature, well-studied, and extensively used type of learning. Learning with supervision is significantly easier than learning without it.

Machine Learning in Practice

Machine learning algorithms are only a small part of what a data analyst or data scientist can do with machine learning in practice. In practice, the procedure looks somewhat like this:

  1. ### Start Loop

Know the domain, prior knowledge, and objectives. Speak with professionals in the field. The objectives are frequently ambiguous. You frequently have more ideas to try than you can possibly implement.

Data integration, selection, cleaning, and pre-processing. These are all steps in the process. This is the component that takes the most time. It is critical to use high-quality data. Because the data is unclean, the more data you have, the worse it is. Garbage goes in, garbage goes out.

Models for learning. This is the exciting part. This section is quite advanced. The tools are all-purpose.

Interpreting the outcomes. It doesn't always matter how the model works as long as it produces outcomes. The model must be understandable in other domains. Human specialists will put you to the test.

Strengthening and implementing discovered knowledge. Most innovations that succeed in the lab are never implemented in real life. It is difficult to get something used.

  1. ### End Loop

It is a continuous process, not a one-time process. You must repeat the loop until you have a result that can be used in practice. Furthermore, the data may change, necessitating a new loop.

Top comments (0)