machine learning

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A field of computer science where computers improve at a task by finding patterns in data instead of being programmed step by step.

   Grammar: Uncountable: no plural, no 'a' before it.

   Patterns

   • machine learning algorithms
   • machine learning models
   • use machine learning

   Machine learning is used to recommend products to shoppers.

   She studied machine learning to build better speech recognition systems.

   The company uses machine learning to detect fraud.

2. 2noununcountable

   The process or set of techniques by which a computer learns from data.

   Grammar: Uncountable: talk about 'machine learning' in general, not 'a machine learning'.

   Patterns

   • apply machine learning
   • machine learning techniques

   Machine learning has transformed how we analyze large datasets.

   They applied machine learning to predict customer behavior.

Common combinations

machine learning model

The machine learning model was trained on thousands of images.

machine learning algorithm

A machine learning algorithm can classify emails as spam.

deep learning

Deep learning is a type of machine learning using neural networks.

machine learning engineer

She works as a machine learning engineer at a tech firm.

Synonyms and how they differ

artificial intelligence

A broader field that includes machine learning; not all AI is machine learning.

statistical learning

A more technical term focusing on the statistical foundations of machine learning.

Word family

machine-learned adjective

Describing something produced by machine learning, e.g., a machine-learned model.

Commonly confused: machine learning or artificial intelligence?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “machine learning”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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