While many of you have probably heard the term “machine learning,” a large majority of us are unfamiliar with what the term actually means, and how important the technology has become in our everyday life..
Have you ever used Spotify? Have you ever watched a movie on Netflix? Do you own an Amazon Echo or an iOS device? If so, then you’ve already used machine learning, and you’re likely using it even more than you think.
According to Google Trends, machine learning has rapidly outpaced artificial intelligence in terms of search volume. Because of the massive uptick in interest over the past few years, machine learning is one of the most popular, and highest-sought after tech skills.
In this article I’ll discuss the definition of machine learning and why it has become such a popular career choice for people. I’ll also share the best online machine learning courses (discovered after an exhaustive research) that would help you dive deeper in case you’re interested. Shall we begin?
What is machine learning?
At its core, machine learning is all about making computers better at making decisions on their own.
Machine learning automates and improves the learning capability of computers based on their experiences, without the need for any additional programming or human interaction. Machine learning engineers create models which allow computers to process massive amounts of data, and then use that data to make independent decisions.
By intelligently analyzing past data, machine learning models helps computers learn from patterns.
Students who choose to learn machine learning online will learn all about how data, algorithms, and statistical models enable computers to perform tasks without any other instruction.
Take Netflix, for example.
One major influence on the movie streaming giant’s success is its ability to harness machine learning to improve the service for its users. Have you ever wondered how Netflix’s movie recommendations are so accurate? Netflix uses AI to analyze the viewing history of millions of subscribers, and then pulls that data to accurately predict what movies best fit your interests.
But the utilization of machine learning doesn’t end there. The company also use the technology to generate artwork and thumbnails, scout for movie setting locations, edit their in-house media content, and optimize streaming quality.
While basic forms of machine learning have been around since the 1950s, it wasn’t until very recently that engineers had the technological ability to manage big data with complex math calculations, at least on any sort of practical scale. With the development of higher-performing computer systems came the ability for hardware to process the amount of data necessary to make modern machine learning work.
Why are the online machine learning courses so popular?
The popularity of machine learning has exploded over the past few years. The ability for computer scientists to build innovative products like the self-driving car and online applications such as Netflix and Google, has sparked a level of enthusiasm in AI unlike any tech development has in recent history.
The AI market is expected to blossom into a $59.8 billion industry by 2025, a figure made even more impressive when you learn that the current value is estimated at around $3.5 billion. That’s a whole lot of growth potential
The real kicker is that while only 4.5% of self-reported data scientists work specifically as machine learning engineers, over 65% of organizations are going live with AI in the next 24 months. As a result, the demand for knowledgeable machine learning professionals is at an all-time high, yet the number of computer scientists looking for machine learning jobs is still relatively light.
Can you hear that buzz in the air? That’s the sound of opportunity.
Because of the statistical disparity between the interest by organizations and the number of data scientists who associate their career with machine learning, there has never been a better time to become familiar with the machine learning field.
The 5 Top Online Machine Learning Courses
Finding the best machine learning course online can be a challenging experience if you don’t know where to start. These trusted courses from Coursera are five of the most popular options that came up in my research.
For those of you who haven’t heard this name — Coursera offers courses facilitated by some of the most well-known and respected educational, taught by world-class instructors. They offer a wide-variety of commitment levels, some courses take 4–6 weeks, while specialization programs can take much longer and require a higher level of commitment.
All the following courses have high-scoring reviews by previous students and are administered by respected educational institutions and instructors.
#1 Machine Learning
This machine learning training course offered by Stanford provides a broad overview of machine learning, data mining, and statistical pattern recognition. Topics covered include supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and best practices. Students will gain skills in logistic regression, artificial neural networking, and algorithms.
The course curriculum includes case studies and practical applications, allowing students to get a good grasp on how learning algorithms are applied. This course is perfect for anyone interested in dipping their feet into the topic to explore whether they are interested in pursuing the topic any deeper. Students can expect this course to take approximately 55 hours to complete.
#2 Launching into Machine Learning
Offered by Google Cloud, this course touches on the history of machine learning, and discusses why neural networks are so helpful for solving modern data science problems. Students will learn why machine learning is so popular, how to evaluate and optimize models, how to solve common problems that may arise, and how to create test data sets that are scalable and repeatable.
This course is designed for students with an intermediate grasp of the topic and has an estimate completion time of 7 hours.
Check it out
#3 Machine Learning Foundations: A Case Study
Approach — This course offered by The University of Washington focuses on delivering hands-on experience through a series of practical case-studies. For example, by the end of the course, students will understand how to use machine learning to predict real estate prices based on the home’s features, recommend products, search for images, and more.
Students who complete this course will learn to identify potential ways to apply machine learning, describe the differences between regression, classification, and clustering, and much more. The completion time of ‘Machine Learning Foundations: A Case Study Approach’ is estimated at around 24 hours.
#4 Introduction to Machine Learning
Duke University offers this course which provides a foundational understanding of machine learning and machine learning models. Students will be able to demonstrate how these models can be used to solve complex problems in a wide variety of markets.
Students will have hands-on experience by completing practice exercises. The exercises instruct students how to use TensorFlow and popular open source libraries in their machine learning work. This course is estimated to take 14 hours to complete and is best for students who already have an intermediate skill level.
#5 Machine Learning Specialization
For students interested in taking a more intensive path, the Machine Learning Specialization offered by The University of Washington offers a series of four courses, including A Case Study Approach (mentioned above), Regression, Classification, and Clustering & Retrieval. These four courses are designed to help you master the skill of machine learning, and each one includes a hands-on project.
Students who finish all four courses will receive a machine learning certificate which they can show to prospective employers to prove their knowledge and experience. The entire specialization is estimated to take 8 months for students working on coursework 6 hours each week.
To wrap it up
The AI industry is expected to explode over the next few years and taking one of the courses I’ve explored will put you in an excellent position to land a job in the machine learning industry.
Choosing a course led by respected instructors and institutions is one of the most important steps you can take to show prospective employers that you have the background and expertise to be a perfect fit for their team.
For more information on other top online courses platforms, you can always check out this comparison by The Crowder.
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