This Week in Machine Learning 11 September 2017

This week’s top Machine Learning stories: how machine learning continues to improve agriculture, a new ML-powered app to monitor air pollution, and more!

Machine Learning is one of the most exciting fields in the world. Every week we discover something new, something amazing, something revolutionary. That’s why we created This Week in Machine Learning! Each week we publish a curated list of Machine Learning stories as a resource to help you keep pace with all these exciting developments. New posts will be published here first, and previous posts are archived on the Udacity blog.

Whether you’re currently enrolled in our Machine Learning Nanodegree program, already working in the field, or just pursuing a burgeoning interest in the subject, there will always be something here to inspire you!

Industry

Microsoft and Facebook announce a new joint venture to simplify model-training for data analysts via a new format called the Open Neural Network Exchange.

Science

Scientists at Human Longevity, Inc. use machine learning to tie DNA samples to predictions of facial traits with applications to everything from biology to forensics.

Environment

Researchers at UCLA create an affordable smartphone add-on to measure air quality by applying machine learning to analyze data about detected pollutants.

Healthcare

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is one of several backers for a biotech startup Gritstone which aims to develop immunotherapies using machine learning.

Food & Beverage

Deere & Co., most famous for their agricultural machinery, acquires Blue River, a startup specializing in combining machine learning and robotics for farming, for $305 million.

Finance

Nasdaq’s SMARTS analyzes stock market trading for anomalies to speed up the detection of fraud and other market abuses.