Why machine learning matters for business Posted on : Jun 09 - 2018

Machine learning offers great potential for business and for researchers, unearthing unseen patterns in data, making inferences, and with boosting artificial intelligence. But what exactly is machine learning and what can it do?

The key advantage of machine learning is that it enables computers to access hidden insights, finding patterns that can either be used by researchers to find hitherto unknown patterns (as might be used for drug discovery) or by businesses to find insights into customer behaviour or to target potential new consumers.

Machine learning not only helps find things that people may not, it also does what people do far more quickly. Machine learning algorithms tend to operate at expedited levels.

What is machine learning?

Machine learning refers to an automated means of assessing data to discover patterns by training a model, so that the ability to spot patterns and interpret data improves over time. The models are computer-driven and they require the use algorithms, and it is the algorithms that drive improvement from experience.

Machine learning can mean slightly different things in different contexts and it is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on techniques from diverse fields like computer science, mathematics, statistics and artificial intelligence.

Essentially, machine learning is about automated predictive analytics. This encompasses a range of statistical techniques, such as predictive modelling, to analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events.

Supervised and unsupervised machine learning

Machine learning can be ‘supervised’, where a data scientist is needed to provide input and desired output during algorithm training. In contrast, unsupervised algorithms use an iterative approach termed deep learning, whereby the algorithm can review the data and derive conclusions. Unsupervised learning algorithms are called neural networks, and they tend to be used for more complex processing tasks. View More