Python All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3

Doing Machine Learning

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding the basics of machine learning

Using TensorFlow to do machine learning

Working with MatPlotLib

What does it mean to learn something? One definition is “the acquisition and mastery of what is already known about something and the extended clarification of meaning of that knowledge.” Another definition is that learning is “a relatively permanent change in a person’s knowledge or behavior due to experience.”

The second definition best fits with the current state of AI. Our engineering and scientific culture has developed algorithms and programs that can learn things about data and about sensory input and apply that knowledge to new situations. But our machines do not understand anything about what they have learned. They have just accumulated data about their inputs and have transformed that input to some kind of output which we hope means something to the observing humans.

However, even though machines don't understand what they have learned, you can do some impressive problem solving using the machine-learning techniques described in this chapter. And maybe the techniques we are developing now will lead the way to something ...