Tag Archives: machine learning
Why & When to use Eigenvalues & Eigenvectors?

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are important concepts in linear algebra that have numerous applications in data science. They provide a way to analyze the structure of linear transformations and matrices, and are used extensively in many areas of machine learning, including feature extraction, dimensionality reduction, and clustering. In simple terms, eigenvalues and eigenvectors are the building blocks of linear transformations. Eigenvalues represent the scaling factor by which a vector is transformed when a linear transformation is applied, while eigenvectors represent the directions in which the transformation occurs. In this post, you will learn about why and when you need to use Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors? As a data scientist/machine learning Engineer, one must …
Machine Learning – Sensitivity vs Specificity Difference

Machine learning (ML) models are increasingly being used to learn from data and make decisions or predictions based on that learning. When it comes to evaluating the performance of these ML models, there are several important metrics to consider. One of the most important metrics is the accuracy of the model, which is typically measured using sensitivity and specificity. These two metrics are critical in determining the effectiveness of a machine learning model In this post, we will try and understand the concepts behind machine learning model evaluation metrics such as sensitivity and specificity. The post also describes the differences between sensitivity and specificity. You may want to check out another …
Amazon Bedrock to Democratize Generative AI

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Titan foundational models (FMs), making it easier for customers to build and scale generative AI applications with foundation models. According to AWS, they received feedback from their select customers that there are a few big things standing in their way today in relation to different AI use cases. First, they need a straightforward way to find and access high-performing FMs that give outstanding results and are best-suited for their purposes. Second, customers want integration into applications to be seamless, without having to manage huge clusters of infrastructure or incur large costs. Finally, customers want it to be …
Backpropagation Algorithm in Neural Network: Examples

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are a powerful machine learning / deep learning technique inspired by the workings of the human brain. Neural networks comprise multiple interconnected nodes or neurons that process and transmit information. They are widely used in various fields such as finance, healthcare, and image processing. One of the most critical components of an ANN is the backpropagation algorithm. Backpropagation algorithm is a supervised learning technique used to adjust the weights of a Neural Network to minimize the difference between the predicted output and the actual output. In this post, you will learn about the concepts of backpropagation algorithm used in training neural network models, along with Python …
K-Means Clustering Python Example

Clustering is a popular unsupervised machine learning technique used in data analysis to group similar data points together. The K-Means clustering algorithm is one of the most commonly used clustering algorithms due to its simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness on a wide range of datasets. In K-Means clustering, the goal is to divide a given dataset into K clusters, where each data point belongs to the cluster with the nearest mean value. The algorithm works by iteratively updating the cluster centroids until convergence is achieved. In this post, you will learn about K-Means clustering concepts with the help of fitting a K-Means model using Python Sklearn KMeans clustering implementation. You will …
Lasso Regression Explained with Python Example

Lasso regression, also known as L1 regularization, is a linear regression method that uses regularization to prevent overfitting and improve model performance. It works by adding a penalty term to the cost function that encourages the model to select only the most important features and set the coefficients of less important features to zero. This makes Lasso regression a popular method for feature selection and high-dimensional data analysis. In this post, you will learn concepts, advantages and limitations of Lasso regression along with Python Sklearn examples. The other two similar forms of regularized linear regression are Ridge regression and Elasticnet regression which will be discussed in future posts. What’s Lasso Regression? …
SVM RBF Kernel Parameters: Python Examples

Support vector machines (SVM) are a popular and powerful machine learning technique for classification and regression tasks. SVM models are based on the concept of finding the optimal hyperplane that separates the data into different classes. One of the key features of SVMs is the ability to use different kernel functions to model non-linear relationships between the input variables and the output variable. One such kernel is the radial basis function (RBF) kernel, which is a popular choice for SVMs due to its flexibility and ability to capture complex relationships between the input and output variables. The RBF kernel has two important parameters: gamma and C (also called regularization parameter). …
Ordinary Least Squares Method: Concepts & Examples

Regression analysis is a fundamental statistical technique used in many fields, from finance to social sciences. It involves modeling the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method is one of the most commonly used techniques for regression analysis. Ordinary least squares (OLS) is a linear regression technique used to find the best-fitting line for a set of data points by minimizing the residuals (the differences between the observed and predicted values). It does so by estimating the coefficients of a linear regression model by minimizing the sum of the squared differences between the observed values of the dependent variable and …
PCA Explained Variance Concepts with Python Example

Dimensionality reduction is an important technique in data analysis and machine learning that allows us to reduce the number of variables in a dataset while retaining the most important information. By reducing the number of variables, we can simplify the problem, improve computational efficiency, and avoid overfitting. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a popular dimensionality reduction technique that aims to transform a high-dimensional dataset into a lower-dimensional space while retaining most of the information. PCA works by identifying the directions that capture the most variation in the data and projecting the data onto those directions, which are called principal components. However, when we apply PCA, it is often important to …
PCA vs LDA Differences, Plots, Examples

Dimensionality reduction is an important technique in data analysis and machine learning that allows us to reduce the number of variables in a dataset while retaining the most important information. By reducing the number of variables, we can simplify the problem, improve computational efficiency, and avoid overfitting. Two popular dimensionality reduction techniques are Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Both techniques aim to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset, but they differ in their objectives, assumptions, and outputs. But how do they differ, and when should you use one method over the other? As data scientists, it is important to get a good understanding around this concept …
MinMaxScaler vs StandardScaler – Python Examples

Data scaling is an essential part of data analysis, especially when working with machine learning algorithms. Scaling helps to standardize the range of features and ensure that each feature (continuous variable) contributes equally to the analysis. Two popular scaling techniques used in Python are MinMaxScaler and StandardScaler. In this blog, we will learn about the concepts and differences between these scaling techniques with the help of Python code examples, highlight their advantages and disadvantages, and provide guidance on when to use one over the other. Note that these are classes provided by sklearn.preprocessing module and used for feature scaling purposes. As a data scientist, you will need to learn these …
Meta Unveils SAM and Massive SA-1B Dataset to Advance Computer Vision Research

Meta Researchers have, yesterday, unveiled a groundbreaking new model, namely Segment Anything Model (SAM), alongside an immense dataset, the Segment Anything Dataset (SA-1B), which together promise to revolutionize the field of computer vision. SAM’s unique architecture and design make it efficient and effective, while the SA-1B dataset provides a powerful resource to fuel future research and applications. The Segment Anything Model is an innovative approach to promptable segmentation that combines an image encoder, a flexible prompt encoder, and a fast mask decoder. Its design allows for real-time, interactive prompting in a web browser on a CPU, opening up new possibilities for computer vision applications. One of the key challenges SAM …
Autoencoder vs Variational Autoencoder (VAE): Differences

In the world of generative AI models, autoencoders (AE) and variational autoencoders (VAEs) have emerged as powerful unsupervised learning techniques for data representation, compression, and generation. While they share some similarities, these algorithms have unique properties and applications that distinguish them from each other. This blog post aims to help machine learning / deep learning enthusiasts gain a deeper understanding of these two methods, their key differences, and how they can be utilized in various data-driven tasks. We will learn about autoencoders and VAEs, understanding their core components, working mechanisms, and common use-cases. We will also try and understand their differences in terms of architecture, objectives, and outcomes. What are …
Mean Squared Error or R-Squared – Which one to use?

As you embark on your journey to understand and evaluate the performance of regression models, it’s crucial to know when to use each of these metrics and what they reveal about your model’s accuracy. In this post, you will learn about the concepts of the mean-squared error (MSE) and R-squared, the difference between them, and which one to use when evaluating the linear regression models. You also learn Python examples to understand the concepts in a better manner What is Mean Squared Error (MSE)? The Mean squared error (MSE) represents the error of the estimator or predictive model created based on the given set of observations in the sample. It …
Mean Squared Error vs Cross Entropy Loss Function

As a data scientist, understanding the nuances of various loss functions is critical for building effective machine learning models. Choosing the right loss function can significantly impact the performance of your model and determine how well it generalizes to unseen data. In this blog post, we will delve into two widely used loss functions: Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Cross Entropy Loss. By comparing their properties, applications, and trade-offs, we aim to provide you with a solid foundation for selecting the most suitable loss function for your specific problem. Loss functions play a pivotal role in training machine learning models as they quantify the difference between the model’s predictions and …
Machine Learning: Identify New Features for Disease Diagnosis

When diagnosing diseases that require X-rays and image-based scans, such as cancer, one of the most important steps is analyzing the images to determine the disease stage and to characterize the affected area. This information is central to understanding clinical prognosis and for determining the most appropriate treatment. Developing machine learning (ML) / deep learning (DL) based solutions to assist with the image analysis represents a compelling research area with many potential applications. Traditional modeling techniques have shown that deep learning models can accurately identify and classify diseases in X-rays and image-based scans and can even predict patient prognosis using known features, such as the size or shape of the …