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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NEWS /

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So, you
want to
learn
artificial
intelligence.
Here’s
how
you do
it.

     
8 min read
If you want to learn
how to build artificial
intelligence systems,
the first step is
simple: forget all
about artificial
intelligence. Instead
focus your attention
on machine
learning. That way,
you can be sure
you’re in the domain
of the practical
rather than the
domain of hype.

Okay, this position

might sound a little
too dramatic. But
there are a number
of jokes doing the
rounds
 on Twitter
    
along these lines.
Mat Velloso, an
adviser to Satya
Nadella at Microsoft,
wrote late last year
that “if it’s written in
Python, it’s machine
learning. If it’s written
in PowerPoint, it’s
probably AI.”

Mat Velloso
@matvelloso

Difference between
machine learning and AI:

If it is written in Python,
it's probably machine
learning

If it is written in
PowerPoint, it's probably
AI

There are similar

jokes that focus on
the use of the
different words
depending on
whether you’re
talking to investors
or colleagues –
either way, it’s clear
that if you’re starting
to explore artificial
intelligence and
machine learning,

understanding    
what’s important
and what you can
ignore will help you
to get a better view
on where you need
to go as your
learning journey
unfolds.

So, once you

understand that
artificial intelligence
is merely the word
describing the end
goal we’re trying to
achieve, and
machine learning is
a means of
achieving that goal,
you can begin to
start trying to
develop intelligent
systems yourself.

Clearly, a question
will keep cropping
up: where next? Well,
this post should go
some way to helping
you.

Do you want to
learn artificial
intelligence? Read
Packt’s extensive

Learning Path     
Python: Beginner’s
Guide to Artificial
Intelligence.

For a more
advanced guide,
check out Python:
Advanced Guide to
Artificial
Intelligence.

The basics of
machine
learning
If you want to build
artificial intelligence,
you need to start by
learning the basics
of machine learning.
Follow these steps:

Get to grips with the

basics of Python and
core programming
principles – if you’re
reading this, you
probably know
enough to begin, but
if you don’t there are
plenty of resources
to get you started.
(We suggest you
start with Learning
Python)
     
 Make sure you
understand basic
statistical principles
– machine learning
is really just
statistics,
automated by code.

Venturing
further into
machine
learning and
artificial
intelligence
The next step builds
on those
foundations. This is
where you begin
thinking about the
sorts of problems
you want to solve
and the types of
questions you want
to ask.

This is actually a
creative step where
you set the focus for
your project –
whatever kind of
pattern or
relationship you
     
want to understand,
this is where you can
do just that.

One of the
difficulties, however,
is making sure you
have access to the
data you need to
actually do what you
want. Sometimes,
you might need to
do some serious
web scraping or
data mining to get
hold of the data you
want – that’s beyond
the scope of this
piece, but there are
plenty of resources
out there to help you
do just that.

But there are also

plenty of ready
made data sets
available for you to
use in your machine
learning project in
whichever way you
wish. You can find 50
data sets for
machine learning
here, all for a range
of different uses.

     
(If you’re trying
( y y g
machine learning for
the first time, we’d
suggest using one of
these data sets and
playing around to
save you collecting
data).

Getting to
grips with
data
modelling
Although machine
learning modelling is
the next step in the
learning journey,
arguably it should
happen at the same
time as you’re
thinking about both
the questions you’re
asking and the
different data
sources you might
require. This is
because the model
– or models – you
decide to employ in
your project will
follow directly from
the problems you’re
trying to tackle and,
indeed, the nature
     
and size of the data
and size of the data
sets you eventually
use.

It’s important to note

that no model is
perfect. There’s a
rule in the data
science and
machine learning
world called the ‘no
free lunch’ rule –
basically, there’s no
model that offers a
short cut. There will
always be trade offs
between different
algorithms in how
they perform in
various factors. To
manage this issue
you need to
understand what’s
important to you –
maybe you’re not
worried about
speed, for example?
Or perhaps
accuracy isn’t
crucial, you just want
to build something
that runs quickly.

Broadly, the models

you use will fall into
these
 categories:
    
supervised or
supervised or
unsupervised.

Supervised
machine
learning
algorithms
Supervised learning
is where you have
an input and an
output and you use
an algorithm to
better understand
the relationship
between the two.
Ultimately, you want
to get to a point
when your machine
learning system
understands the
relationship in such
a way that you could
predict an output.

Supervised learning
can also be broken
down into
regression or
classification.
Regression is where
the output is a
number or value,
while classification is
a specific category,
     
or descriptor.
 p

Some algorithms
can be used for both
regression and
classification
problems, such as
random forest, while
others can be used
for one or the other.
For example, support
vector machines
can be used for
classification
problems, while
linear regression
algorithms can, as
the name indicates,
be used for
regression problems.

Unsupervised
machine
learning
algorithms
Unsupervised
machine learning
contrasts from
supervised machine
learning in that there
are no outputs on
which the algorithm
works. If supervised
learning ‘tells’ the
algorithm
 the     
answers from which
it then needs to
understand how
those answers were
generated,
unsupervised
learning aims to
understand the
underlying structure
within a given set of
data. There aren’t
any answers to
guide the machine
learning algorithm.

As above, there are

a couple of different
approaches to
unsupervised
machine learning:
clustering and
association.
Clustering helps you
understand different
groups within a set
of data, while
association is simply
a way of
understanding
relationship or rules:
if this happens, then
this will happen too.

Okay, so
what
 about
    
artificial
intelligence?
By now you will have
a solid foundation of
knowledge in
machine learning.
However, this is only
the tip of the iceberg
– machine learning
at its most basic
provides a very
limited form of
artificial intelligence.

Advances in artificial
intelligence are
possible through
ever more powerful
algorithms –
artificial or deep
neural networks –
that have additional
layers of complexity
(quite literally
additional neurons).

These are the

algorithms that are
used to power
sophisticated
applications and
tools. From image
recognition to image
identification,
     
through to speech to
 g p
text and machine
translation, the
applications of these
algorithms are
radically
transforming our
relationship with
technology.

But you probably

already knew that.
The important
question is how you
actually go about
doing it.

Well, luckily in many

ways, if you know the
core components of
machine learning,
more advanced
elements of deep
learning and
artificial neural
networks shouldn’t
actually be as
complex as you
might at first think.

There are, however,

a couple of
considerations that
become more
important as you
move deeper into
     
deep learning.
deep ea g

Hardware
considerations
for deep
learning
One of the most
important
considerations for
any deep learning
projects you want to
try is the hardware
you’re using. For a
basic machine
learning problem,
this shouldn’t be an
issue. However, but
as the computations
on which your deep
learning system is
working become
more extensive, the
hardware you use to
run will become a
challenge you need
to resolve.

This is too big an

issue to explore here,
but you can look in
detail at our
comparison of
different processors
here.
     
Getting started
with deep
learning
frameworks
One of the reasons
the whole world is
talking about
artificial intelligence
is because it’s easier
to do. And this is
thanks, in part, to the
growth of new deep
learning frameworks
that make it
relatively
straightforward to
build complex deep
learning models.

The likes of
TensorFlow, Keras,
and PyTorch are all
helping engineers
and data scientists
build deep learning
models of
considerable
sophistication.
Although they each
have their own
advantages, and it’s
well worth spending
some time
comparing them,
     
there’s certainly a lot
there s certainly a lot
to be said for simply
getting started with
them yourself.

What about
cloud’s impact
on machine
learning and
artificial
intelligence?
An interesting
development in the
machine learning
space is the impact
of cloud based
solutions. The likes of
Azure, AWS and
Google Cloud
Platform are all
offering a number of
different services
and tools from
within their
overarching cloud
products that make
performing machine
and deep learning
tasks much easier.

While this is
undoubtedly going
to be an important
development,
 and,
    
indeed, one you may
have encountered
already, there is no
substitute for simply
getting your hands
dirty with the data
and seeing how the
core principles
behind machine
learning and
artificial intelligence
actually work.

Conclusion:
Don’t be
scared, take
machine
learning and
artificial
intelligence
one step at a
time
Clearly, with so
much hype around
artificial intelligence
its easy to get stuck
before you begin.
However, by
focusing on the core
principles and
practical application
     
of machine learning
of machine learning
you will be well on
your way to helping
drive the future of
artificial intelligence.

Learn artificial
intelligence from
scratch with
Python: Beginner’s
Guide to Artificial
Intelligence.
Dive deeper into
deep learning and
artificial
intelligence with
Python: Advanced
Guide to Artificial
Intelligence.

Richard Gall
Co-editor of the Packt Hub.
Interested in politics, tech
culture, and how software
and business are changing
each other.

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PUBLISHED BY

Richard Gall

TAGS:

keras / Python News / PyTorch / Tensorflow News

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