Category: Fundamentals
Definition
Machine learning is artificial intelligence that improves through experience. Instead of programming specific instructions, you give the system examples and let it learn patterns.
How It Works
Think of teaching a child to recognize cats. You show them hundreds of cat photos and say "this is a cat." Eventually, they learn what makes a cat a cat - whiskers, pointy ears, fur patterns. Machine learning works the same way with data.
The system looks for patterns in examples, builds rules from those patterns, then applies those rules to new situations.
Three Main Types
- Supervised learning - Learning with a teacher who provides correct answers
- Unsupervised learning - Finding hidden patterns without guidance
- Reinforcement learning - Learning through trial and error
Why It Matters
Machine learning powers most AI you interact with daily - search engines, recommendation systems, voice assistants, and photo tagging. It makes AI systems smart enough to handle tasks they weren't explicitly programmed for.
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