Introduction to Machine Learning (Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning)

Rating:
Summary: A Great Introduction
Review: We are only beginning to teach silicon based computers how to do things that meat computers have been doing for many thousands of years, things like talking. We learn to talk by making mistakes. Babies gurgle and cry and once in a while make a word. Momma, Daddy and Grandma reward the baby and eventually he's chattering away. Silicon brains can't do that.

But with the advances in computer technology, we are gaining the ability to store and process large amounts of data, as well as to access it from physically distant locations. With this mass of data, we have made progress in "data mining." If a person buys the first Harry Potter book. there's a percentage that will buy the second, and a different percentage that will buy the third. You can mine the data for these numbers. And by analyzing these percentages you can determine the likelihood of success in directing advertising to this customer. This is just one example of machine learning. Other topics covered in this book include statistics, pattern recognition, neural networks, artificial intelligence, signal processing, process control.

This book is intended for the beginning student in machine learning, he should have some background in programming, probability, calculus, and linear algebra. Having said that, I can recommend this book to anyone moving into the machine learning area.