How The Machine Learning Will Improve Education In The Future?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 

Education has definitely moved away from the teacher facing a classroom of students all using the same textbook. Today the learning experience is internet and ML dependent for data, technology, and digital resources, No wonder the education system is deeply invested in machine learning.

Let us explore how a machine learning course of AI is going to bring its benefits to the education experience of the future. The class sizes keep increasing with compulsory education and teachers are often facing many challenges in giving attention and help to the large numbers of students. A big challenge like this has been simplified by incorporating computer programs with ML algorithms that allow each student to follow his own pace and learning curve.

The newer methods of experiential learning at educational institutions use advanced techniques of AI, machine learning and deep learning in instructing and teaching like chatbots and learning bots. A differentiated machine learning course and AI style of learning deal with the most effective style to help the student learn.

Adaptive based learning curates the learning exercises matching them to the student’s needs and knowledge gaps. Competency-based AI tests aid the students to gauge their learning levels and progress from thereon. Using all these three types of learning, ML and AI can together test how well the students adapt their learning to applications and thus promote the progress of students based on individual interests.

What is machine learning? 

The definition of ML- machine learning is that it gives the AI the ability to self-learn from data, mimicking the human brain and is based on statistical techniques. The algorithm used need not be supervised or explicitly programmed. Almost all ML applications in education work very closely with concepts that are interconnected with artificial learning, deep learning of data, neural networks based on complex self-learning algorithms and the very basic concepts of a horde of machine learning course based applications helping machines do repetitive and intuitive tasks most times more accurately and better than humans themselves.

The benefits of machine learning in education:

Here are some ways in which ML makes a difference in the educational experience of educators and students.

Aid the educators: Data mining is the basis of ML and how well it performs. Forming a single repository of the students in one database, ML can effectively study each student’s behavior versus his peers. Thus ML can help cluster similar students and pace them better throughout the learning experience with the right resources and learning materials.

Gives insight to a student’s performance: One of the huge pluses of ML is the ability to give insights and make predictions based on data of a student’s performance. The ML technology can identify gaps and weaknesses to help students stay ahead of the curve.

Capacity to test students: ML can offer both offline and online tests and guidance that helps students to revise, relearn and evaluate performances. Both educators and students can benefit from their foresight and insights. The AI and ML-based tests and multiple choice answers also test the practical application of knowledge and not just rote learning.

Fair gradation of students: ML removes any bias in grading and scoring. The objective style tests and assignment answers can now be automatically assessed with tools like Grammarly or Turn It In. Both online and offline resources, MOOCs and such can be integrated into the learning process.

Experiential and customized learning: Personalizing the experience and offering near-instantaneous feedback is a huge advantage of ML. Both students and teachers can now benefit from knowing how to fill the knowledge gaps.

Content and feedback are instantaneous: ML is excellent at organizing content, task lists, learning resources, colleges, schools information and much more, to personalize the studying for each student. This helps students grade themselves and progress up the ladder with the suggested courses.

Through identifying weaknesses, machine learning can organize content more effectively. For example, as students learn one skill, they move on to the next skill continually building upon knowledge.

Drop-out rate reduction and retention: Corrective action can be applied rapidly if knowledge gaps persist and are identified by ML. This prevents higher drop-out rates while improving retention levels.

Availability based tutoring: This means ML will facilitate the student’s needs with an available expert tutor for effective learning and tutoring.

Conclusions:

Yes, technology and ML especially will transform the educational experience with more and more algorithms being developed by the minute. If you want to learn all about how to make a career in this field then do a machine learning course at the reputed Imarticus Learning Institute. Now is the right time to jump onto the bandwagon. Why wait?

What Is The Role of Machine Learning In Financial Fraud Prevention?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

What is the role of machine learning in financial fraud prevention?

The instances of fraud rose between 2015 and 2018, there was also an increase in the total value and volume of fraud, according to KPMG. Needless to say, financial fraud is alive and well, despite increasingly stringent measures to reduce numbers and tighten security.

Out of all fraud instances, banks reported that cyber-attacks were the most imminent risks, no doubt due to the burgeoning use of technology within the sector without adequate security. The solution is a tad ironic- to fight technology with more technology, like fighting fire with fire. Financial fraud prevention is best countered by machine learning, a subset of Artificial Intelligence.

Machine learning may be an alien concept to many, but it plays an intrinsic role in our daily functioning– even more so as times become for futuristic. Detection of email spam, product recommendations on your favorite video network or even image recognition algorithms on cellphones are examples of machine learning in everyday use.

For the banking industry, machine learning comes off much like a savior, especially in light of the many disadvantages of traditional fraud detection.

Traditional methods were heavily based on rules, which meant they could be inefficient, erroneous or hard to scale. This formed a weak buttress against sophisticated hackers who are well-versed in enhanced fraudulent methods and was as good as having no firewall after a point.

Against all of this, machine learning has an important role to play, as any Machine Learning course would tell you. Here are the benefits of using machine learning for financial fraud prevention:

Scalable, cost-effective algorithms

The benefit of machine learning algorithms is that more data means more precision. This is a definite step-up from traditional methods where bigger datasets could lead to incorrect data or even crashes. In machine learning, the algorithm learns with more data as it picks out outliers, nuances and different patterns to provide more accurate results in a more efficient manner.

It’s cost-effective, too– rule-based methods required a lot more in terms of costs to scale, whereas machine learning setups need a few tweaks to get back up and running after an update in datasets. An additional benefit is that machine learning algorithms can repeat menial, frustrating tasks 24/7 without a hitch– a feat highly impossible if a human employee were involved.

Real-time processing

In traditional methods of fraud detection and prevention, the focus was more on long-term processing, which often led to delays in resolving fraud reports and transactions. That naturally led to a lot of unhappy customers, but Machine Learning can successfully put an end to that saga.

The results from machine learning algorithms are real-time, which means instant updates and immediate results. Not only does this lead to quicker fraud resolutions, but it also helps banks identify loopholes in their system and fix them immediately.

Reduce time and increase accuracy

The main draws of machine learning are its ability to reduce the time and effort taken to detect fraud and prevent it. There are claims that a fully-ready machine learning algorithm can detect up to a whopping 95% of fraud, that too accurately. According to another Capgemini report, fraud detection software that uses machine learning can reduce the time taken to investigate by 75%, all the while improving the accuracy of fraud detection by 90%. Needless to say, machine learning purports a lot of benefits when used in the banking sector for fraud detection.

Applicable across industries

The banking sector liaises with multiple other industries, as do their customers. However, the fraud cases they deal with are often dissimilar in intensity, method, uses, and reasoning. It only makes sense, then, that a fraud detection setup is capable of handling fraud detection and resolution across all industries.

With machine learning, algorithms can be scaled or adapted for different industries including e-commerce, medicine, hospitality, retail, and insurance. By using unique datasets for each sector, similar machine learning algorithms can be used to cater to each, instead of limiting all claims to one or a few traditional fraud prevention methods.

The financial and banking sector has a lot to benefit from the use of machine learning in fraud detection– today’s machine learning courses today cover these uses in-depth, making aspirants ready for changing technology in a traditional industry.

Top 3 Apache Spark Tutorials For Machine Learning Beginners!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Apache Spark is a well-known name in the machine learning and developer worlds. For those who are unfamiliar, it is a data processing platform with the capacity to process massive datasets. It can do so on one computer or across a network of systems and computing tools. Apache Spark also offers an intuitive API that reduces the amount of repetitive computing and processing work that developers would otherwise have to do manually.

Today, Apache Spark is one of the key data processing and computing software in the market. It’s user-friendly and it can also be used through whatever programming language you’re most comfortable with including Python, Java and R. Spark is open-source and truly intuitive in that is can be deployed for SQL, data streaming, machine learning and processing graphs. Displaying core knowledge of Apache Spark will earn you brownie points at any job interview.

To gain a headstart even before you begin full-fledged work in Apache Spark, here are some tutorials for beginners to sign up for.

  1. Taming Big Data with Apache Spark and Python (Udemy)

This best-selling course on Udemy has fast become a go-to for those looking to dive into Apache Spark. More than 47,000 students have enrolled to learn how to:

  • Understand Spark Streaming
  • Use RDD (Resilient Distributed Datasets) to process massive datasets across computers
  • Apply Spark SQL on structured data
  • Understand the GraphX library

Big data science and analysis is a hot skill these days and will continue to be in the coming future. The course gives you access to 15 practical examples of how Apache Spark was used by industry titans to solve organisation-level problems. It uses the Python programming language. However, those who wish to learn with Scala instead can choose a similar course from the same provider.

  1. Machine Learning with Apache Spark (Learn Apache Spark)

This multi-module course is tailored towards those with budget constraints or those who are unwilling to invest too much time, preferring instead to experiment. The modules are bite-sized and priced individually to benefit those just dipping their toes. The platform’s module on “Intro to Apache Spark” is currently free for those who want to get started. Students can then progress to any other module which catches their fancy or do it all in the order prescribed. Some topics you can expect to explore are:

  • Feature sets
  • Classification
  • Caching
  • Dataframes
  • Cluster architecture
  • Computing frameworks
  1. Spark Fundamentals (cognitiveclass.ai)

This Apache Spark tutorial is led by data scientists from IBM, is four hours long and is free to register for. The advantage of this course is that it has a distinctly IBM-oriented perspective which is great for those wishing to build a career in that company. You will also be exposed to IBM’s own services, including Watson Studio, such that you’re able to use both Spark and IBM’s platform with confidence. The self-paced course can be taken at any time and can also be audited multiple times. Some prerequisites to be able to take this course are an understanding of Big Data and Apache Hadoop as well as core knowledge of Linux operating systems.

The five modules that constitute the course cover, among other topics, the following:

  • The fundamentals of Apache Spark
  • Developing application architecture
  • RDD
  • Watson Studio
  • Initializing Spark through various programming languages
  • Using Spark libraries
  • Monitoring Spark with metrics

Conclusion

Apache Spark is leveraged by multi-national million-dollar corporations as well as small businesses and fresh startups. This is a testament to how user-friendly and flexible the framework is.

If you wish to enrol in a Machine Learning Course instead of short and snappy tutorials, many of them also offer an introduction to Apache Spark. Either way, adding Apache Spark to your resume is a definite step up!

Job Opportunities in The Field of Artificial Intelligence in This Pandemic Time!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

To become an Artificial Intelligence (AI) professional, you need to have practical problem-solving skills, logic, communication, and analytical skills. AI is made to create computer programs that can achieve goals and solve a problem better than humans. With lesser mistakes and emotions to hinder the work, AI gives better and jan efficient output.

The scope in AI is vast. You can get into robotics, gameplay, language detection, machine learning, computer vision, speech recognition, and many more.

Some of the factors that characterize a great career in AI are as follows:

  • Robotics
  • Use of sophisticated computer software
  • Automation

Math, technology, engineering, and logic are some of the specific fields that individuals have to specialize in if they are considering a job in this field.

Along with this, learning science including physics and computer studies is beneficial.  Considering the computational approach to AI, knowing the technical, as well as physiological knowledge of the system, is immensely helpful. Knowledge of primary machine language is a must. There are many other courses that you can do to get into the world of AI like, Machine learning.

Data Science Online CourseMany institutes like IIT provide machine learning courses, there are other institutes that provide these courses online and then there are certification courses that you can take up in private institutions.

Some of the career opportunities in AI

  • Robotic Scientist

Robots are gradually taking over the industrial worlds. There is lesser workforce and more robots. To help create such robots that can solve problems as a human would, we need engineers or programmers. For a career in Artificial Intelligence field, a master’s in robotics engineering and having a license from the state can be of help.

  • Software Engineer

In every phone that is there in the market, there is an option for face recognition or finger print recognition. Many companies, including big businesses, security companies, casinos, etc. have face recognition and fingerprint recognition to understand the people who use their services. Hence being a software engineer is one of the opportunities here.

  • Game Programmer

To keep the players challenged and highly anticipated, every gaming company requires candidates that are well known with the basics of AI and can design games that can keep the players engaged and interested.

  • Search Engine Manager

Many big companies, like Google, pay a massive amount to candidates with an AI degree to manage their massive search engines. Many may search for various things on Google, but Google search is able to predict the search even when there are spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. This is done with the help of knowledge and the study of artificial intelligence.

  • Government Sector

There are jobs not just in the Private sector, but there is an intense need for candidates with a degree in AI in the government sector too. The pay is high, and along with that, the amenities provided are even better.

Conclusion

The scope of artificial intelligence is vast. Having a master’s degree or a doctorate is the best if you are looking for a long term job in the field of AI.

The demand for people with knowledge of AI is strong. Companies like Google, Apple, etc. are always on the lookout for candidates who can take the world of AI to another level. The choices are plenty, and the income from working in such a field is high.

‘Eve’, a robot created by the scientist at the University of Manchester, Cambridge, discovered that a common ingredient found in toothpaste is capable of curing malaria. This event, itself, can show how much this field has grown, and the job possibilities are endless.

The Role of AI in Minimising Physical Contact in Public Spaces!

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The novel coronavirus pandemic has forced a majority of countries around the world to enforce lockdowns. Although met with initial resistance, a large chunk of the global population has stuck to social distancing and shelter-in-place norms, allowing the curve to be flattened.

As countries now begin to emerge out of lockdowns in phases, the focus will turn to maintain high standards of sanitation and hygiene. This is to avoid undoing the work that has been done over the past few months as well as set new norms for effective mitigation and disease controls. Amongst these, processes to minimize the frequent touching of common surfaces in public spaces will certainly feature.

So far, however, all efforts have been wholly dependent on manual efforts and individual dedication to social distancing and mitigation. AI can be pivotal in the efforts to curb the touching of surfaces in public areas without banking on individuals entirely.

Here’s how:

  • Contactless Access Systems

Tech titans are currently exploring the use of technologies for facial recognition to monitor the social distance between staff members. These can also be taken one step further to be combined with thermal scanning; when paired, this system can regulate who enters and exits the front doors in just a few seconds.

Machine Learning

This system also negates the need for touch-and-go biometric scanners or ID scanners which often become a collection point for employee throughout the day. Artificial Intelligence can be used to virtually cordon off some parts of the office as well as maintain control over how many times a person touches their face in a day (which is one of the quickest methods of COVID19 transmission).

  • Leveraging Voice Commands

Voice functionality has penetrated many aspects of human lives– and it’s only set to increase. Voice commands can be used to operate systems in public spaces such as bathrooms, elevators, entryways and cubicles to minimize the risk of contact. It can also be implemented at the water cooler, in the printing room and in office pantries, which are often places that see the highest footfall in large-scale organisations. Voice functionality can be implemented by integrated voice assistants and or smartphone apps. Aside from voice commands, gestures can also be used to minimizing the frequency of touching high-risk surfaces such as flushes, taps, door handles and elevator buttons.

  • Smart Handles and Locks

Doorknobs and handles are high-priority areas for sanitation teams given that we subconsciously handle them every day. AI can be implemented to reduce the need to physically touch handles to open doors. Technology can be used to kick into motion self-locking or gesture-controlled mechanisms. In a case where physical touch is absolutely required, AI can also be used to trigger the dispensing of antibacterial coatings or single-use sanitary sleeves. Newer inventions that use these technologies are able to be retrofitted onto existing doorknobs and handles, making them a quick fix to the sanitation problem in this aspect.

  • Location and Distance Tracking

Although some industries are slowly opening up, others have seen an influx of workers considered essential. However, that doesn’t reduce the need for strict social distancing measures, which is where AI comes into the picture. Artificial Intelligence can be used to account for the location of every employee in the facility and alert them if they have crossed social distancing boundaries.

Additionally, AI can also be used to demarcate spaces in queues and cubicles to maintain distance between employees. This system can be implemented through smartphone apps or wearable devices such as smartwatches.

Conclusion

Even after the pandemic loosens its hold, social distancing is slated to become the new norm. Businesses looking to leverage AI to maintain these rules without manual labour can consider upskilling their IT team through an artificial intelligence course or Machine learning training to ensure they’re achieving their potential.

How Machine Learning is a Boon For License Plate Recognition?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Machine Learning has weathered some tough days, pulling through to become a powerful technological force capable of leading and creating real-world change.

A prime example of this is the use of Machine Learning in automated surveillance systems on roads in busy metropolises. License plate recognition, for example, has transformed from a pipe dream to current reality, thanks to image processing and recognition capabilities of AI and ML systems.

Out of all the solutions posited towards vehicle movement and management, machine learning solutions are the most accurate because:

  • They derive crucial information from vehicles on the move
  • They are real-time and efficient
  • They are self-taught and don’t need human resource support

What is license plate recognition?

It is the process of detecting and identifying license plates, through Optical Character Recognition, to be run against an existing database. The most basic recognition system consists of three steps:

  • Detecting the actual license plate
  • Segmenting characters into individual images
  • ML algorithms recognize each character

License plate recognition is a boon for many government and private entities, especially when used in tandem with an existing robust database.

Where is license plate recognition thought to be useful?

As the number of vehicles increases across metros and crime also shoots up, many law enforcement bodies find it increasingly difficult to track offensive vehicles and levy fines, book drivers or conduct searches in good time.

Identification of traffic defaulters: ML-based license plate recognition systems allow bodies like the police and traffic control to identify vehicles that break rules like driving over the speed limit, not wearing seatbelts or having broken headlights. Depending on the business of the junction or road, the technology can be used in tandem with human traffic police to ensure accuracy and efficiency.

Recognition of abandoned wanted or stolen vehicles: By integrating ML-based systems on mobile devices, police or other law enforcement bodies can recognize and identify vehicles whether wanted, stolen or abandoned. This reduces a lot of time wasted on identifying vehicles or organizing paperwork. It also allows the enforcers to contact the person in question or make arrests were necessary.

Automating of toll collection: By adding LP systems to toll booths, law enforcement authorities can conveniently collect tolls without the need for actual service personnel manning the station.

A good LPR system is set apart from the rest by the following salient features–

Functions in all environments: Using humans to identify license plates in extreme weather leaves plenty of room for errors. Good LPR systems work regardless of the environment– stormy, cloudy, foggy or dusty– thereby heightening the accuracy and increasing real-time problem solving or escalation. They also function on low-resolution images, when the image is at an angle or where the image is blurry and of a fast-moving vehicle.

Identifies plates on all vehicles: Depending on the vehicle, indeed even the country it’s in, the license plate can differ in color, font, and sequence. It could also be placed on different parts of the vehicle body, which means a good LPR tool needs to be able to identify the right markings in the right spot and identify the sequence correctly.

The final word

Detecting and recognizing license plates is a task that grows increasingly cumbersome as the number of vehicles and registration requirements increase. To get a head start on this emerging field, students, freshers, and industry professionals must engage in a Machine Learning Course and open up new avenues for themselves. Using a license plate recognition system that is dynamic, ML-based and scalable is a positive step towards managing the chaos and getting real-time, positive results.

Is Statistics Required for Machine Learning?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

What is Statistics?

Statistics is a branch of mathematics that is used for comparing and analyzing various data points and the numbers associated with them. It also includes the study of numbers and drawing out insights from those numbers. Some of the statistical measures include average, median, mode, variance, standard deviation, correlation, regression, etc. Some of these help in analyzing single sets of data while others are used in comparing two or more sets of data and then making a comparative analysis in the form of trends and patterns. Often these tools are also brought into play when it comes to predicting future numbers.

What is Machine Learning?

Machine Learning is the application of artificial intelligence where the systems are programmed to perform a specific set of tasks. The computers are programmed to function automatically depending on the various scenarios and come up with the required results. It enables the analysis of huge data for drawing out various business insights.

Also, it makes the sorting and analysis of data quick and easy as the automation is brought into play with the help of machine learning. It is a really powerful tool in this data-driven world of today. It collects data from various sources as given by the algorithm, prepares it for analysis and then evaluates this data for bringing out insights and also throws light on various performance indicators in the form of patterns and trends.

Statistics and Machine Learning

Both Statistics and Machine Learning deal with the analysis of data therefore one could guess that the two areas are interrelated. Various statistical methods are used to transform raw data and bring out various results. Many believe that knowing Statistics is a prerequisite for understanding Machine Learning. Statistics is important as the data sets have to be created which can be easily made if one has prior knowledge of Statistics. Also, with the help of statistics, the observations are transformed and put to good use.

Machine Learning has a deep relation with Statistics and the elements of statistics such as the collection of data, classification, and sorting of data, analysis of data, etc. Predictive modeling can be done by someone who at least has a basic understanding of Statistics. Machine learning is also known as “Applied Statistics” as it practically uses various statistical theories and principles to drive growth and various results.

Data analysis is important for machine learning and statistics is an art of handling data. It is the primary skill that drives machine learning algorithms. Statistics plays a very important role when it comes to machine learning. One needs to know about the various parameters on which the data shall be analyzed to bring out desired results.

Methods such as Correlation and Regression are often used to compare various sets of data and these tools are built into algorithms with the help of machine learning so that these numbers of comparison can be automatically calculated and a comparative study can be made based on these numbers. Learning Statistics before getting into machine learning is the best way to go about it. Various Machine Learning training will also give you an idea about statistics and how it is applied to Machine Learning.

Conclusion
Machine Learning and Statistics are two parts of the same coin. Machine Learning makes use of statistics for sanitizing data and on the other hand, Statistics is given a practical shape and is made applicable with the help of machine learning. Therefore, it becomes easy to conclude that one must have at least a basic understanding of statistics to understand the aspects of Machine Learning.

AI Helping The E-commerce Stores To Dramatically Increase Conversions

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 

In today’s era of continuously developing science and technology, artificial intelligence has touched almost every possible domain in our lives. It has revolutionized technology to mimic the human brain. From self-checkout cash counters at malls to advance security check systems at airports, AI has left its footprints everywhere. It has set a considerable benchmark in the field of e-commerce by providing a wide range of personalized experiences and creating new standards. According to a recent analysis, more than 80% of the human interactions in the future will be held by artificial intelligence. The key features that create a dramatic increase in conversions are listed below.

Chatbots

Chatbots are intelligent conversational agents that use Natural Language Processing as a base to provide the machine with the ability to understand and process human interactions. They are designed to cater to the user needs by providing product recommendations, customer support, and fulfillment of customer purchases. A large number of sales chatbots are being used to provide a personalized user experience. They interact with the customer in a simple question-answer format and provide a suggestion based on the previous purchase history or other buying trends, thereby creating an increment in the sales.

Recommendation Systems

Most of the websites dedicated to online shopping make use of recommendation systems. These systems collect data related to each customer purchase and make suggestions using artificial intelligence algorithms. The main concept used in the recommendation system is to create the sale boost either by suggesting a product based on the purchase history (personalized recommendation) or by promoting the popular products (non-personalized recommendation). They provide an appropriate product suggestions thereby optimizing the website for a boost in sales and increased conversion.

Visual Search Engines

With the help of AI, desired products can be found with just a single click. All a customer needs to do is to take an image of the desired product and provide it as an input to the search engine. The search engine recognizes the desired item based on its specifications and provides appropriate results. Providing accurate results saves the customer time and effort in going through multiple products and the relevance of the system results in increased sales.

Speech Recognition

As AI is expanding every day, it is providing great support for e-commerce by implementing user efficient techniques like voice assistants. By analyzing the sentences used by the customer for the desired product, accurate suggestions are provided thereby raising the bar of user convenience in online shopping. Thus, voice assistance has been proved as one of the most successful tools in providing a smooth, personal and more humane touch to the user experience.

Conclusion

The application of AI in the e-commerce sector has greatly succeeded in providing a better user experience and significant sales increment. It has directed the trend from the traditional shopping approach of visiting the shops to a more advanced yet convenient method of online shopping. It has created a platform for increased conversions with the help of technologies like speech recognition, visual search engines, recommendation systems, better user experience and much more. In simple words, it has made the process of buying and selling swift and efficient for the users.

Artificial intelligence, through its attempts of increasing conversions, is creating rapid advancements in the field of science, technology, and e-commerce. This can be considered a key reason for the recent rise in the number of individuals veering towards artificial intelligence training and opting for machine learning courses.

E-commerce firms are continuously working in the direction of improving the artificial intelligence tools to meet the modern-day market trends. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) integrated with proper marketing strategy and artificial intelligence features like personalized recommendations and sales intelligent chatbots is continuously creating wonders in the e-commerce sector.

A Look at the 3 Most Common Machine Learning Obstacles

Reading Time: 4 minutes

A Look at the 3 Most Common Machine Learning Obstacles

When we talk about artificial intelligence (AI), the research and its findings have surpassed our little expectations. Some experts also believe that this is the golden age of AI and machine learning (ML) projects where the human mind is still surprised at all the possibilities that they bring to the table. However, it is only when you start working on a project involving these advanced technologies that you realize that there are a few obstacles that you need to address before you can start throwing a party.

Predictive assembly line maintenance, image recognition, and automatic disease detection are some of the biggest applications of ML-driven automation. But what are the hurdles that data scientists need to cross if they want to practically execute these applications and gain the desired outcome?

This article will give you an overview of the three common obstacles involved in machine learning models.

Common Machine Learning Obstacles

On theory, machine learning evangelists tend to liken the technology to magic. People scrolling through Facebook watch videos that use buzzwords in their captions and believe that AI can do wonders. Of course, it can, but when you think practically it is not as easy as it sounds. Commercial use of machine learning still has a long way to go because the reference dataset that is essential for any such model to function needs to be tidied up and organized at such a minute level it becomes tedious.

Ask any data scientist who has worked in a deep learning project and she will tell you all about it: the time, the resources, and the particular skills needed to create the database, sometimes known as a training set. But these are challenges found in any project. When you deal with machine learning, there are a few peculiar ones too.

Let’s dig deeper into these three common obstacles and find out why they are so integral to the larger machine learning problem.

The Problem of Black Box

Imagine a machine learning training program that is developed to predict if a given object is a red apple or not. During the early days of machine learning research, this meant writing a simple program with elements that involved the color red and the shape of an apple. Essentially, such a program was created through a thorough understanding of those who developed it. The problem with modern programs is that although humans developed it, they have no idea how the program actually detects the object, and that too with unprecedented accuracy. This is also one of the issues hampering the wide application of data classification models.

Experts have studied this problem and tried to crack it, but the solution still seems elusive because there is absolutely no way to get into the process while it is running. Although the program gives out fabulous results – results that are much needed to detect if a given fruit is a red apple or not from a wide range of fruits that also include non-apples – but the lack of knowledge as to how it works makes the whole science behind it feel like alchemy.

If you have been following world news related to AI-enabled products, this is probably the biggest cause of ‘accidents.’ That self-driving car hit a divider when there was no reason for it to hit it? That’s the black box problem right there.

What Classification Model to Choose?

This is another common obstacle that comes in the way of data scientists and successful AI tools. As you might know, each classification model has its own set of pros and cons. There is also the issue of the unique set of data that has been fed to it and the unique outcome that is desired.

For example, a program wanting to detect a fruit as red apple is totally different from another program that requires the observation to be classified into two different possibilities. This puts the scientists behind the program in a difficult situation.

Although there are ways to simplify this to an extent, it often ends up as a process of trial-and-error. What needs to be accomplished, what is the type and volume of data, and what characteristics are involved are some of the common questions that need to be asked. Answers to these will help a team of engineers and data scientists selects an appropriate model. Some of these popular models are a k-nearest neighbor (kNN), decision trees, and logistic regression.

Data Overfitting

Understanding this will be easier because it can be described using an example. Take, for instance, a robot who has been fed the floor plan of a Walmart store. It is the only thing that has been fed to it, and the expected outcome is that the robot can successfully follow a set of directions and reach any given point in the store. What will happen if the robot instead is brought to a Costco store that is built entirely differently? Assumption tells us that it won’t be able to go beyond the initial steps as the floor plan in its memory and the floor plan of this new store do not match.

A variation of this fallacy is what is known as data overfitting in machine learning. A model is unable to generalize well to a set of new data. There are easy solutions to this, but experts suggest prevention rather than cure. Data regularization is one of those prevention mechanisms where a model is fed data sufficient for the requests that it will handle.

The above-mentioned three obstacles are the most common, but there are many more like talent deficit, unavailability of free data, and insufficiency of research and development in the field. In that vein, it is not fair of us to demand a lot more of the technology when it is relatively new compared to the technologies that took years and decades to evolve and are part of our routine use (internet protocol, hard disks, and GPS are some examples).

If you are an aspiring data scientist, the one thing that you can do is contribute to the research and development of machine learning and engage in more discussion both online and offline.

Difference Between Data Classification and Prediction in AI

Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

In machine learning, it is important to understand the difference between data classification and data prediction (or regression) and apply the right concept when a task arises. This is because classification involves a premature decision (as in a combination of prediction and past decisions) and the decision-maker may end up making a decision based on incorrect elements. Not a good situation when error-free action is the main aim of using such a model.

As artificial intelligence and associated technologies evolve, for a program to make the right decision actively depends on how a particular task compares with a set of reference data. This set of data, in most cases, is crucial in the development of that system.

So, let’s take a closer look at these two separate concepts and then go through some of their core differences in the context of decision-making in AI and other related fields.

What is Data Classification?

In simple words, classification is a technique where a system determines what class or category a given observation falls in so that the future course of action can then be defined. Machine learning training uses a three-pronged approach to do this:

  • Application of a classification algorithm that identifies shared characteristics of certain classes
  • Comparison of this set of characteristics with that of the given observation
  • The conclusion to classify the given observation

Let’s take the example of a real-life event to better understand this.

If a bank wants to use its AI tool to predict if a person will default on his loan repayments or not, it will need to first classify the person. For a bank, the two classes in this context will be defaulters and non-defaulters. It does not care about any more details.

The tool will execute the above-mentioned three-step process to conclude if the person will fall in the first or the second category.

While this process may seem unbiased, there is one major drawback that data classification has. This is called the black box problem. It involves a lack of identification of the specific characteristic that must have influenced the decision to classify a given observation under one class. It can be one or more characteristics but pinpointing which ones will be impossible.

What this means is that the bank cannot use it as an example to deter other applications. It has to run the tool every time to assess the person. And for all persons, this defining characteristic may differ.

How Does Data Prediction Compare?

If data classification deals with determination based on characteristics, data prediction focuses on coming up with a more polished output (e.g.: a numeric value). Such type of regression analysis is often used for numerical prediction.

In the above example of the bank loan defaulter, a data prediction model will come up with the probability of how likely a person is to default on loan repayments rather than mere classification.

What is the Difference?

As one can observe, there is a stark difference between data classification and data prediction. Although both of them are widely used in data analysis and artificial intelligence tools, they often serve separate purposes.

According to Frank Harrell, a professor of biostatistics at Vanderbilt University, classification is a forced choice. He takes the example of the decision that a marketer has to take when she has to plan how many of the total target audience should she focus on when building a marketing plan on, say, Facebook. Here, “a lift curve is used, whereby potential customers are sorted in decreasing order of estimated probability of purchasing a product.” To gain maximum ROI, the marketer targets those that are likely to buy the product. Here, classification is not required.

When to make a forced-choice and when not to totally depends on the observation being made. This is why most algorithmic models working on data analysis cannot be used for all types of results. Classification and prediction both depend on what the required output is.

Now, let’s take a look at some pointers that will further clarify the differences between these two models:

  • In classification, a data group is divided into categories based on characteristics
    • In prediction, the reference dataset is used to predict a missing element
  • Classification can be used when the type of desired output is already known
    • Prediction, on the other hand, is used when the type is unknown
  • Classifiers are dependent on previous data sets. They require abundant information to provide better prediction
    • Numerical regression, on the other hand, can provide usable data and act as a starting point for future activities

What these differences highlight is the need to apply them cautiously. Choosing one method over another might feel like a free option, but it is much more than that. While preparing the data will involve challenges in relevance analysis and data cleaning (to chuck out as much noise as possible), one has to also consider factors such as accuracy, speed, robustness, scalability, and interpretability.

As one can assume, these two models have differing values as far as the above factors are considered. The computational cost, for example, is not an important topic at the moment in the artificial intelligence field. But once these models become a part of the everyday analysis, a discussion will surely pop up. And that’s when a more learned decision must be taken.

Finally, it is important to understand that both classification and regression (prediction of a numerical value) are types of predictive analysis. The difference is mainly in how they interact with observation as well as how the reference data set is used.

Choosing which one to go with should perfectly fit the case otherwise one will end up with the wrong choice. Building such predictive models should, therefore, be a joint project involving data scientists and business users. In the example of the bank, if loan agents can directly work with data scientists during the development of these models, it aids in removing at least the known errors out of the equation.