Machine learning is a branch of Computer science that deals with programming the systems in such a way that they automatically learn and improve with experience. Here, learning means recognizing and understanding the input data and making wise decisions based on the supplied data.
It is very hard to cater to all the decisions based on all possible inputs. To tackle this problem, algorithms are developed. These algorithms make knowledge from specific data and past experience with the principles of statistics, probability theory, logic, combinatorial optimization, search, reinforcement learning, and control theory.
The developed algorithms form the basis of various applications such as:
• Vision processing
• Language processing
• Forecasting (e.g., stock market trends)
• Pattern recognition
• Data mining
• Expert systems
• Robotics
The most commonly used techniques are supervised and unsupervised learning, which are used in machine learning.
Supervised Learning:
Supervised learning deals with learning a function from available training data. A supervised learning algorithm analyzes the training data and produces an inferred function, which can be used for mapping new examples. Common examples of supervised learning include:
• classifying e-mails as spam,
• labeling WebPages based on their content, and
• Voice recognition.
There are many supervised learning algorithms such as neural networks, Support Vector Machines (SVMs), and Naive Bayes classifiers. Mahout implements Naive Bayes classifier.
Unsupervised Learning:
Unsupervised learning makes sense of unlabeled data without having any predefined dataset for its training. Unsupervised learning is an extremely powerful tool for analyzing available data and look for patterns and trends. It is most commonly used for clustering similar input into logical groups. Common approaches to unsupervised learning include:
• k-means
• self-organizing maps, and
• hierarchical clustering
Applications of Machine learning:
1. Virtual Personal Assistants
2. Predictions while Commuting
3. Videos Surveillance
4. Social Media Services
5. Email Spam and Malware Filtering
6. Online Customer Support
