How does machine learning work? I’ve seen plenty of videos but after a certain point, I realize that I am not learning anything because they make a lot of references to weird mathematical symbols and concepts I never learned/forgot.
In: Technology
Basically you set up some boundary conditions. You define what variables can’t be changed, what variables can be changed, and what outcomes are favorable. Then you allow a computer to make random guesses at the changeable variables…and look at what the outputs are. If they’re “good” or “bad” you have the computer adjust its guesses and try again. Repeat millions of times.
A simple example that gets used a lot is animal skeletons. Specifically, dinosaurs. You can input all the dimensions for the skeletal structure, some generic guesses for mass, and then leave the motion to the computer. You let the computer guess which parts of the body to move and in which order, and you “score” its guesses by how much forward progress you make and which walking motion reduces impact forces and strain as much as possible on all the joints (animals move in the lowest-possible energy expending method in most cases).
Let the computer make millions of guesses and pretty soon you have an accurate computer simulation of how a massive dinosaur would have really walked, including using its tail as counterbalance. It’s pretty cool stuff.
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