Semi-supervised learning refers to algorithms that attempt to make use of both labeled and unlabeled training data. Semi-supervised learning algorithms are unlike supervised learning algorithms that are only able to learn from labeled training data. A popular approach to semi-supervised learning is to create a graph that connects examples in the training dataset and propagates […]
Multinomial Logistic Regression With Python
Multinomial logistic regression is an extension of logistic regression that adds native support for multi-class classification problems. Logistic regression, by default, is limited to two-class classification problems. Some extensions like one-vs-rest can allow logistic regression to be used for multi-class classification problems, although they require that the classification problem first be transformed into multiple binary […]
Semi-Supervised Learning With Label Propagation
Semi-supervised learning refers to algorithms that attempt to make use of both labeled and unlabeled training data. Semi-supervised learning algorithms are unlike supervised learning algorithms that are only able to learn from labeled training data. A popular approach to semi-supervised learning is to create a graph that connects examples in the training dataset and propagate […]
Histogram-Based Gradient Boosting Ensembles in Python
Gradient boosting is an ensemble of decision trees algorithms. It may be one of the most popular techniques for structured (tabular) classification and regression predictive modeling problems given that it performs so well across a wide range of datasets in practice. A major problem of gradient boosting is that it is slow to train the […]
Feature Selection with Stochastic Optimization Algorithms
Typically, a simpler and better-performing machine learning model can be developed by removing input features (columns) from the training dataset. This is called feature selection and there are many different types of algorithms that can be used. It is possible to frame the problem of feature selection as an optimization problem. In the case that […]
How to Choose an Optimization Algorithm
Optimization is the problem of finding a set of inputs to an objective function that results in a maximum or minimum function evaluation. It is the challenging problem that underlies many machine learning algorithms, from fitting logistic regression models to training artificial neural networks. There are perhaps hundreds of popular optimization algorithms, and perhaps tens […]
Ensemble Learning Algorithm Complexity and Occam’s Razor
Occam’s razor suggests that in machine learning, we should prefer simpler models with fewer coefficients over complex models like ensembles. Taken at face value, the razor is a heuristic that suggests more complex hypotheses make more assumptions that, in turn, will make them too narrow and not generalize well. In machine learning, it suggests complex […]
What Is Meta-Learning in Machine Learning?
Meta-learning in machine learning refers to learning algorithms that learn from other learning algorithms. Most commonly, this means the use of machine learning algorithms that learn how to best combine the predictions from other machine learning algorithms in the field of ensemble learning. Nevertheless, meta-learning might also refer to the manual process of model selecting […]
Calculus Books for Machine Learning
Knowledge of calculus is not required to get results and solve problems in machine learning or deep learning. However, knowing some calculus will help you in a number of ways, such as in reading mathematical notation in books and papers, and in understanding the terms used to describe fitting models like “gradient,” and in understanding […]
Dynamic Classifier Selection Ensembles in Python
Dynamic classifier selection is a type of ensemble learning algorithm for classification predictive modeling. The technique involves fitting multiple machine learning models on the training dataset, then selecting the model that is expected to perform best when making a prediction, based on the specific details of the example to be predicted. This can be achieved […]