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    Machine Learning: Adaptive Behaviour Through Experience: Thinking Machines
    Machine Learning: Adaptive Behaviour Through Experience: Thinking Machines
    Machine Learning: Adaptive Behaviour Through Experience: Thinking Machines
    Ebook142 pages2 hours

    Machine Learning: Adaptive Behaviour Through Experience: Thinking Machines

    By alasdair gilchrist

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This book is an introduction to Machine learning for beginners yet it has sufficient depth to interest technical developers. It addresses the subject of Machine Learning algorithms and the training techniques used, which will enable an agent to learn through its own experience gained through interaction with its environment. The book is aimed at students without any prerequisite knowledge of math or statistics, instead it addresses the algorithms, functions and techniques as understandable processes that the layman can comprehend and action.

    The topics of interest are as follows:

    How does A.I. differ from Machine Learning

    Machine Learning in practice

    Understanding the Machine Learning process

    Introduction to ML algorithms

    Function families of algorithms

    Approaches to Machine Learning

    Techniques and methods in applied Machine Learning

    Working with error

    Planning the Machine Learning process

    Understanding Linear regression

    Understanding Decision Trees

    Understanding Bayesian Networks

    Understanding Association Rules

    Understanding Support Vector Machines

    Understanding Clustering

    Understanding Neural Networks

    Intro to Deep Neural Networks (DNN)

    Types of DNN

    Understanding Feature Engineering

    Machine Learning Platforms and Frameworks

     Initially we will introduce machine learning and describe it relationship with Artificial Intelligence. As part of the discussion we will learn what Machine Learning is and how it differentiates from A.I. we will learn about some features of Machine Learning and study Machine Learning in practical terms by witnessing it in action. We will see the wide and diverse application of Machine Learning and understand its pervasiveness throughout most modern technologies.

    Then we will look under the hood at the technology to get an idea of how Machine Learning works rather than just a high-level of what it does. In particular we will be introduced to the three approaches to Machine Learning, supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning. We will learn about each method, how it works and why it is used for particular scenarios as well the families of algorithms that are the foundation of Machine Learning and by doing so we will learn some of the basic principles behind algorithms and some of the important inherent constraints. We will discuss the Bias-variance dilemma, the requirement for generalization, and our preference for simple over complex models. In addition we will introduce a commonly used term in Machine Learning, overfitting and we will learn the principle, how it occurs and why it is such an issue. We will also learn how we measure error accurately and suggest some trade-offs that improve performance.

    Then we come to addressing the harsh practical reality of preparing a Machine Learning model. We will learn how to handle data, through acquisition, cleansing and preparation. We will also learn how to choose an approach, a method and an algorithm that suits our needs. In the course of the book we will study Linear regression, Decision Trees, Bayesian Networks, Association Rules, Support Vector Machines, Clustering and Artificial Neural Networks.

    We will also learn about Feature Engineering the important task of selecting the appropriate features for the method being deployed. We will learn how to identify appropriate features and the techniques for feature extraction.

    Finally in the closing Chapter we will learn about the Machine Learning platforms and software languages that have good ML frameworks. We will also learn about other Machine learning resources, tools and techniques that enable even SME’s to actively participate in Machine Learning activities and research.

    LanguageEnglish
    Publisheralasdair gilchrist
    Release dateJul 16, 2017
    ISBN9781386922513
    Machine Learning: Adaptive Behaviour Through Experience: Thinking Machines

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      Book preview

      Machine Learning - alasdair gilchrist

      Thinking Machines

      Machine Learning

      Chapter 1 –An introduction to Machine Learning

      How does AI differ from Machine Learning?

      Chapter 2 - Machine Learning in practice

      Image Processing

      Text Analysis

      Stock Trading

      Data Mining

      Video Games & Robotics

      Chapter 3 - Understanding the Machine Learning process

      Introduction to Machine Learning algorithms

      Supervised Learning

      Supervised Classification

      Unsupervised Learning

      Reinforcement Learning

      Chapter 4 - ML Families of algorithms

      Functional Groups of Algorithm

      Chapter 5 – Working with Error

      The Bias-Variance dilemma

      Generalization error

      Accurately measuring error

      Asymptotic Properties of Algorithms

      Understanding Over- and Under-Fitting

      Chapter 6 – Planning the ML Process

      Supervised or unsupervised?

      Classification, regression or clustering?

      Which algorithm is best?

      Chapter 7 - Linear Regression

      1. Simple Linear Regression

      Regularization

      Predicting with Linear Regression

      Preparing Data for Linear Regression

      Chapter 8 - Decision Tree

      The way Decision Trees work

      When to use classification vs. regression tree

      Building a Decision Tree

      DT Algorithm Types

      Chapter 9 - Bayesian Networks

      How Bayesian Networks work

      Assigning Probabilities

      Calculating Results

      Node Counts

      Chapter 10 - Associated Rules

      Where Is Association Rules Learning Used?

      How Association Rules Learning Works

      Defining the Process

      Algorithms

      Association rules tips

      Chapter 11 - Support Vector Machines

      Where Are Support Vector Machines Used?

      The Basic Classification Principles

      SVM Fundamentals

      How Support Vector Machines Approach Classification

      Pros and Cons associated with SVM

      Chapter 12 – Clustering

      Where Is Clustering Used?

      Clustering Models

      How the K-Means Clustering Works

      Calculating the Number of Clusters in a Dataset

      Chapter 13 - Artificial Neural Networks (Deep Learning)

      The Perceptron

      Multi-layer Neural networks

      Types of Neural Networks

      Deep Neural Networks

      Chapter 14 -Feature engineering

      Feature extraction

      Feature selection

      Calculating Entropy and Information gain

      Testing examples and performance metrics

      Chapter – 15 Machine Learning Frameworks & Infrastructure

      Thinking Machines

      The ability of a program to learn from experience - That is, to modify its execution on the basis of newly acquired information

      Chapter 1 –An introduction to Machine Learning

      In this Chapter we will introduce machine learning and describe it relationship with Artificial Intelligence. As part of the discussion we will learn what Machine Learning is and how it differentiates from A.I. In the course of the Chapter we will learn about some features of Machine Learning and how some models such as deep neural networks are producing some profound discoveries and results across a variety of disciplines that not so long ago were thought to be beyond the realm of intelligent systems.

      In Part II – Artificial Intelligence, we looked at a very high level at how we can build rational agents, which display some measure of AI. We looked at AI through the behavior of constructs called agents and how we used search to solve problems, planning and knowledge representation but the one area we did not touch on was learning. This is because the domain of learning has grown recently and has gained such importance that it has almost stopped being a sub-set of AI and has become its own discipline – the domain of Machine Learning (ML).

      AI covers a large area of computer science research, which has grown so large that it encompasses many disciplines making it difficult to limit exactly what it is or isn't. For example, Cognitive Computing was once considered part of AI as the goals were so intertwined but CC has since forked to become its own science.

      How does AI differ from Machine Learning?

      AI despite all the rhetoric really boils down to being a computer program or set of algorithms that does something seemingly clever. It can be a simple knowledge-based agent with a set of rules in the KB, a pile of if-then statements in a procedural program or a complex Bayesian network.

      The consensus and general belief is that Machine learning is a subset of AI. That is, machine learning is AI, but not all AI is machine learning. For example, symbolic logic, which consists of rules engines, expert systems and knowledge graphs along with Bayesian statistics, or evolutionary algorithms that could well be considered and described as being Artificial Intelligence, but none of them are machine learning.

      The learning part of machine learning relies heavily on negative feedback therefore ML algorithms attempt to optimize their performance through training and experience i.e. they usually try to minimize error or maximize the likelihood of their predictions being true. The ML agent works on the principle of a framework that manipulates inputs in order to guess as to the inputs' nature and their impact on the output. Different outputs being the results of various initial guesses are the product of the inputs and the algorithm. Usually, the initial guesses are way out of the ballpark, but if you are lucky enough to have ground-truth labels pertaining to the input, you can measure how wrong your guesses are by contrasting them with the truth table, and then use that error to modify your algorithm – this is negative feedback, the technique of using errors in the output to tune the input proportionately.

      This is how neural networks work they keep on measuring the level of output error and correspondingly modifying their input parameters until they achieve a minimal error that is detected on the output that they are unable to reduce further and this is true Machine Learning.

      Machine Learning requires in the most typical and easiest scenario to be trained with data that is labeled so that it can determine the level of error in the output. Therefore ML agents are an optimization algorithm and if they are trained with sufficient data to tune them accurately they will minimize their error by always working to bring the output closer to agreement with the reference goals.

      However, over the last couple of years – from 2012 onwards - AI has been changing. Many scientists are now recognizing that most things that were considered to be AI in the past were actually nothing of the sort. Instead, there is a school of thought that as long as the programmer is the one supplying all the knowledge to the system then they are in fact providing the intelligence. Yes the AI system may learn but its learning based upon labeled training data which is provided to the system as a representation of a defined world model. Hence the system is not really an Artificial Intelligence agent as it's still relying on training data so could strictly be looked upon as another programming trick.

      The issues here are that if you define and input the references for the world models for the system, then the machine isn't learning itself. After all, the world model could be very large and apt to change at any time making the system obsolete. Instead we should be building systems that are capable of learning everything about their own world models, through interacting continuously with their own sensors and percepts. Making the systems autonomous is the only way to create really intelligent systems so we must strive to have the system itself learn, then create and maintain its own World Models.

      Since 2012, a specific Machine Learning technique called Deep Learning, which has proved extremely successful utilizing DNN or deep neural networks has come to the fore. This success has many researchers abandoning the classical weak AI algorithm style of AI and switching to Deep Learning. This sea change is based mainly on the fact that it actually is proving to work ... the only slight issue is no one as yet knows how.  Consequently, researchers, such as Google's DeepMind, have made more progress in three years since 2012 than all of AI research in the preceding decades. The proven success is demonstrated in advances on several key AI problems, which are notably, Image Processing and Understanding, Signal Processing, Voice Processing and Understanding, and Text Understanding.

      Another exciting indicator that we are now on the right track is that deep learning (DL) algorithms are small and very efficient circa 500 – 1,000 lines of code as opposed to older AI programs that could run to millions of lines of code. The importance of this is that they require little initial programming, and especially no specific knowledge about world models as the purpose of these programs are to be general use systems that can move from one problem domain to another with very few changes to the core code. 

      Being generic, these deep learning systems are displaying GENERAL intelligences, not specific to any one problem domain. This is why they are being called Artificial General Intelligence something IBM's Watson despite all its impressive tricks could never aspire too.  Furthermore, computer science has never had any AI programs that could do this in the past. As an example, the language understanding programs that organizations such as DeepMind are creating using DL will work in any language, not just English, all it just takes is re-training to switch to Japanese or German.

      In addition, the one drawback of deep neural networks and deep learning – the inability to learn incrementally – was overcome to some extent by DeepMind in February 2017. Previously once trained a deep neural network was only good for what it had learned, and subsequent training led to a condition known as catastrophic forgetting – the loss of previously learned abilities. However, DeepMind appear to have overcome this shortcoming to some extent by creating a DL network that can learn incrementally without suffering catastrophic forgetting so it can learn new tasks without destroying the connections established by previous learning.

      Google who acquired DeepMind for its deep learning skills

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