Machine Learning

Machine learning is a way of teaching computers. Instead of giving the computer step by step rules, we show it lots of examples. The computer then figures out patterns by itself. It uses those patterns to make smart choices. This is one part of artificial intelligence.

How It Learns

Say you want a computer to know cats from dogs. You show it thousands of cat and dog pictures. The computer studies the pictures and finds things that make cats different from dogs. The more pictures it sees, the better it gets. Soon it can look at a new picture and tell which animal is in it.

Where We See It

Machine learning is already part of our daily lives. It helps apps tell you the weather or suggest videos. It powers voice helpers like Siri and Alexa. Doctors use machine learning to find diseases in pictures of the body. Self-driving cars use it to see the road and other cars.

Fun Facts

• Machine learning programs can beat the best human players at chess and Go.
• Email programs use machine learning to catch junk mail.
• Machine learning helps predict the weather days ahead.

Did You Know?

Machine learning systems can get better every day as they see more information, just like students learning in school.