What Is Machine Learning?

With machine learning algorithms, AI was able to develop beyond just performing the tasks it was programmed to do. Before ML entered the mainstream, AI programs were only used to automate low-level tasks in business and enterprise settings.

This included tasks like intelligent automation or simple rule-based classification. This meant that AI algorithms were restricted to only the domain of what they were processed for. However, with machine learning, computers were able to move past doing what they were programmed and began evolving with each iteration.

Machine learning is fundamentally set apart from artificial intelligence, as it has the capability to evolve. Using various programming techniques, machine learning algorithms are able to process large amounts of data and extract useful information. In this way, they can improve upon their previous iterations by learning from the data they are provided.

We cannot talk about machine learning without speaking about big data, one of the most important aspects of machine learning algorithms. Any type of AI is usually dependent on the quality of its dataset for good results, as the field makes use of statistical methods heavily.

Machine learning is no exception, and a good flow of organized, varied data is required for a robust ML solution. In today’s online-first world, companies have access to a large amount of data about their customers, usually in the millions. This data, which is both large in the number of data points and the number of fields, is known as big data due to the sheer amount of information it holds.

Big data is time-consuming and difficult to process by human standards, but good quality data is the best fodder to train a machine learning algorithm. The more clean, usable, and machine-readable data there is in a big dataset, the more effective the training of the machine learning algorithm will be.

As explained, machine learning algorithms have the ability to improve themselves through training. Today, ML algorithms are trained using three prominent methods. These are three types of machine learning: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning.

Types of Machine Learning

As with any method, there are different ways to train machine learning algorithms, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. To understand the pros and cons of each type of machine learning, we must first look at what kind of data they ingest. In ML, there are two kinds of data — labeled data and unlabeled data.

Labeled data has both the input and output parameters in a completely machine-readable pattern, but requires a lot of human labor to label the data, to begin with. Unlabeled data only has one or none of the parameters in a machine-readable form. This negates the need for human labor but requires more complex solutions.

There are also some types of machine learning algorithms that are used in very specific use-cases, but three main methods are used today.

Supervised Learning

Supervised learning is one of the most basic types of machine learning. In this type, the machine learning algorithm is trained on labeled data. Even though the data needs to be labeled accurately for this method to work, supervised learning is extremely powerful when used in the right circumstances.

In supervised learning, the ML algorithm is given a small training dataset to work with. This training dataset is a smaller part of the bigger dataset and serves to give the algorithm a basic idea of the problem, solution, and data points to be dealt with. The training dataset is also very similar to the final dataset in its characteristics and provides the algorithm with the labeled parameters required for the problem.

The algorithm then finds relationships between the parameters given, essentially establishing a cause and effect relationship between the variables in the dataset. At the end of the training, the algorithm has an idea of how the data works and the relationship between the input and the output.

This solution is then deployed for use with the final dataset, which it learns from in the same way as the training dataset. This means that supervised machine learning algorithms will continue to improve even after being deployed, discovering new patterns and relationships as it trains itself on new data.

Unsupervised Learning

Unsupervised machine learning holds the advantage of being able to work with unlabeled data. This means that human labor is not required to make the dataset machine-readable, allowing much larger datasets to be worked on by the program.

In supervised learning, the labels allow the algorithm to find the exact nature of the relationship between any two data points. However, unsupervised learning does not have labels to work off of, resulting in the creation of hidden structures. Relationships between data points are perceived by the algorithm in an abstract manner, with no input required from human beings.

The creation of these hidden structures is what makes unsupervised learning algorithms versatile. Instead of a defined and set problem statement, unsupervised learning algorithms can adapt to the data by dynamically changing hidden structures. This offers more post-deployment development than supervised learning algorithms.

Reinforcement Learning

Reinforcement learning directly takes inspiration from how human beings learn from data in their lives. It features an algorithm that improves upon itself and learns from new situations using a trial-and-error method. Favorable outputs are encouraged or ‘reinforced’, and non-favorable outputs are discouraged or ‘punished’.

Based on the psychological concept of conditioning, reinforcement learning works by putting the algorithm in a work environment with an interpreter and a reward system. In every iteration of the algorithm, the output result is given to the interpreter, which decides whether the outcome is favorable or not.

In case of the program finding the correct solution, the interpreter reinforces the solution by providing a reward to the algorithm. If the outcome is not favorable, the algorithm is forced to reiterate until it finds a better result. In most cases, the reward system is directly tied to the effectiveness of the result.

In typical reinforcement learning use-cases, such as finding the shortest route between two points on a map, the solution is not an absolute value. Instead, it takes on a score of effectiveness, expressed in a percentage value. The higher this percentage value is, the more reward is given to the algorithm. Thus, the program is trained to give the best possible solution for the best possible reward.