Types of Machine Learning

Machine learning is a subset of AI, which enables the machine to

automatically learn from data, improve performance from past
experiences, and make predictions. Machine learning contains a set of
algorithms that work on a huge amount of data. Data is fed to these
algorithms to train them, and on the basis of training, they build the model
& perform a specific task.

These ML algorithms help to solve different business problems like

Regression, Classification, Forecasting, Clustering, and Associations, etc.
Based on the methods and way of learning, machine learning is divided into
mainly four types, which are:
1. Supervised Machine Learning
2. Unsupervised Machine Learning
3. Semi-Supervised Machine Learning
4. Reinforcement Learning
 1. Supervised Learning
 Supervised learning is a type of machine learning that uses labelled
data to train machine learning models.
 In labelled data, the output is already known. The model just needs to
map the inputs to the respective outputs.
 It is the easiest to understand and the simplest to implement. It is
very similar to teaching a child with the use of flash cards.
 An example of supervised learning is to train a system that identifies
the image of an animal.
 These algorithms learn from the past data pattern that is inputted,
called training data, runs its analysis and uses this analysis to predict
future events of any new data within the known classifications.
 The algorithm can be trained further by comparing the training
outputs to actual ones and using the errors for modification of the
algorithms.
 The primary objective of the supervised learning technique is to
map the input variable (a) with the output variable (b).

Supervised machine learning is further classified into two broad categories:

1. Classification: These refer to algorithms that address classification

problems where the output variable is categorical; for example, yes
or no, true or false, male or female, etc. Real-world applications of
this category are evident in spam detection and email filtering.

Some known classification algorithms include the Random Forest

Algorithm, Decision Tree Algorithm, Logistic Regression Algorithm,
and Support Vector Machine Algorithm.

2. Regression: Regression algorithms handle regression problems

where input and output variables have a linear relationship. These
are known to predict continuous output variables. Examples include
weather prediction, market trend analysis, etc.

Popular regression algorithms include the Simple Linear

Regression Algorithm, Multivariate Regression Algorithm, Decision
Tree Algorithm, and Lasso Regression.
For example, consider an input dataset of parrot and crow images.
Initially, the machine is trained to understand the pictures, including the
parrot and crow’s colour, eyes, shape, and size. Post-training, an input
picture of a parrot is provided, and the machine is expected to identify the
object and predict the output. The trained machine checks for the various
features of the object, such as colour, eyes, shape, etc., in the input picture,
to make a final prediction. This is the process of object identification in
supervised machine learning.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Supervised Learning

Advantages:
o Since supervised learning work with the labelled dataset so we can
have an exact idea about the classes of objects.
o These algorithms are helpful in predicting the output on the basis of
prior experience.
Disadvantages:
o These algorithms are not able to solve complex tasks.
o It may predict the wrong output if the test data is different from the
training data.
o It requires lots of computational time to train the algorithm.
o Training required lots of computation times.
Applications of Supervised Learning

Some common applications of Supervised Learning are given below:

Image Segmentation:

Supervised Learning algorithms are used in image segmentation. In this

process, image classification is performed on different image data with pre-
defined labels.

Medical Diagnosis:

Supervised algorithms are also used in the medical field for diagnosis
purposes. It is done by using medical images and past labelled data with
labels for disease conditions. With such a process, the machine can identify
a disease for the new patients.
Fraud Detection - Supervised Learning classification algorithms are used
for identifying fraud transactions, fraud customers, etc. It is done by using
historic data to identify the patterns that can lead to possible fraud.

Spam detection - In spam detection & filtering, classification algorithms

are used. These algorithms classify an email as spam or not spam. The
spam emails are sent to the spam folder.

Speech Recognition - Supervised learning algorithms are also used in

speech recognition. The algorithm is trained with voice data, and various
identifications can be done using the same, such as voice-activated
passwords, voice commands, etc.

2. Unsupervised Machine
Learning

 Unsupervised learning is a type of machine learning in which models

are trained using unlabelled dataset and are allowed to act on that
data without any supervision.
 The goal of unsupervised learning is to find the underlying
structure of dataset, group that data according to similarities,
and represent that dataset in a compressed format.
 An unsupervised learning algorithm aims to group the unsorted
dataset based on the input’s similarities, differences, and patterns.
 In unsupervised learning, there is no instructor or teacher, and the
algorithm must learn to make sense of the data without this guide.
 Unsupervised learning is helpful for finding useful insights from the
data.
 Unsupervised learning is much similar as a human learns to think by
their own experiences, which makes it closer to the real AI.
 Unsupervised learning works on unlabelled and uncategorized data
which make unsupervised learning more important.
 In real-world, we do not always have input data with the
corresponding output so to solve such cases, we need unsupervised
learning.
Unsupervised machine learning is further classified into two types:

Clustering: The clustering technique refers to grouping objects into

clusters based on parameters such as similarities or differences between
objects. For example, grouping customers by the products they purchase.

Some known clustering algorithms include the K-Means Clustering

Algorithm, Mean-Shift Algorithm, DBSCAN Algorithm, Principal
ComponentAnalysis, and Independent Component Analysis.

Association: Association learning refers to identifying typical relations

between the variables of a large dataset. It determines the dependency of
various data items and maps associated variables. Typical applications
include web usage mining and market data analysis.

Popular algorithms obeying association rules include the Apriori

Algorithm, Eclat Algorithm, and FP-Growth Algorithm.

Advantages of Unsupervised Learning

  Unsupervised learning is used for more complex tasks as compared
to supervised learning because, in unsupervised learning, we don't
have labelled input data.
 Unsupervised learning is preferable as it is easy to get unlabelled
data in comparison to labelled data.

Disadvantages of Unsupervised Learning

 Unsupervised learning is intrinsically more difficult than supervised

learning as it does not have corresponding output.
 The result of the unsupervised learning algorithm might be less
accurate as input data is not labelled, and algorithms do not know the
exact output in advance.

Applications of Unsupervised Learning

 Network Analysis: Unsupervised learning is used for identifying

plagiarism and copyright in document network analysis of text data
for scholarly articles.
 Recommendation Systems: Recommendation systems widely use
unsupervised learning techniques for building recommendation
applications for different web applications and e-commerce websites.
 Anomaly Detection: Anomaly detection is a popular application of
unsupervised learning, which can identify unusual data points within
the dataset. It is used to discover fraudulent transactions.
 Singular Value Decomposition: Singular Value Decomposition or
SVD is used to extract particular information from the database. For
example, extracting information of each user located at a particular
location.
 Difference between Supervised and
Unsupervised Learning
Supervised and Unsupervised learning are the two techniques of machine
learning. But both the techniques are used in different scenarios and with
different datasets. Below the explanation of both learning methods along
with their difference table is given.

Supervised Learning Unsupervised Learning

Supervised learning algorithms are Unsupervised learning algorithms are

trained using labelled data. trained using unlabelled data.

Supervised learning model takes direct Unsupervised learning model does not
feedback to check if it is predicting correct take any feedback.
output or not.

Supervised learning model predicts the Unsupervised learning model finds the
output. hidden patterns in data.

In supervised learning, input data is In unsupervised learning, only input

provided to the model along with the data is provided to the model.
output.

The goal of supervised learning is to train The goal of unsupervised learning is to

the model so that it can predict the output find the hidden patterns and useful
when it is given new data. insights from the unknown dataset.

Supervised learning needs supervision to Unsupervised learning does not need

train the model. any supervision to train the model.
Supervised learning can be categorized Unsupervised Learning can be classified
in Classification and Regression proble in Clustering and Associations proble
ms. ms.

Supervised learning can be used for those Unsupervised learning can be used for
cases where we know the input as well as those cases where we have only input
corresponding outputs. data and no corresponding output data.

Supervised learning model produces an Unsupervised learning model may give

accurate result. less accurate result as compared to
supervised learning.

Supervised learning is not close to true Unsupervised learning is more close to

Artificial intelligence as in this, we first the true Artificial Intelligence as it learns
train the model for each data, and then similarly as a child learns daily routine
only it can predict the correct output. things by his experiences.

It includes various algorithms such as It includes various algorithms such as

Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, Clustering, KNN, and Apriori algorithm.
Support Vector Machine, Multi-class
Classification, Decision tree, Bayesian
Logic, etc.
 3. SEMI-SUPERVISED LEARNING
 Semi-Supervised learning is a type of Machine Learning
algorithm that lies between Supervised and Unsupervised
machine learning.
 It represents the intermediate ground between Supervised
(With Labelled training data) and Unsupervised learning (with
no labelled training data) algorithms and uses the combination
of labelled and unlabelled datasets during the training period.
 It uses the combination of labelled and unlabelled datasets to
train its algorithms
 To overcome the drawbacks of supervised learning and
unsupervised learning algorithms, the concept of Semi-
supervised learning is introduced. The main aim of semi-
supervised learning is to effectively use all the available data,
rather than only labelled data like in supervised learning.
 Initially, similar data is clustered along with an unsupervised
learning algorithm, and further, it helps to label the unlabelled
data into labelled data.
 Consider an example of a college student.
A student learning a concept under a teacher’s supervision in
college is termed supervised learning.
In unsupervised learning, a student self-learns the same
concept at home without a teacher’s guidance. Meanwhile, a
student revising the concept after learning under the direction
of a teacher in college is a semi-supervised form of learning.
Advantages and disadvantages of Semi-supervised Learning
Advantages:
o It is simple and easy to understand the algorithm.

o It is highly efficient.

o It is used to solve drawbacks of Supervised and Unsupervised

Learning algorithms.
Disadvantages:
o Iterations results may not be stable.

o We cannot apply these algorithms to network-level data.

o Accuracy is low.
 4. REINFORCEMENT
LEARNING

 Reinforcement learning works on a feedback-based process, in

which an AI agent (A software component) automatically
explore its surrounding by hitting & trail, taking action, learning
from experiences, and improving its performance.
 Agent gets rewarded for each good action and get punished for
each bad action; hence the goal of reinforcement learning
agent is to maximize the rewards.
 In reinforcement learning, there is no labelled data like
supervised learning, and agents learn from their experiences
only.
 The reinforcement learning process is similar to a human being;

For example, a child learns various things by experiences in his

day-to-day life. An example of reinforcement learning is to play
a game, where the Game is the environment, moves of an
agent at each step define states, and the goal of the agent is to
get a high score. Agent receives feedback in terms of
punishment and rewards.
Due to its way of working, reinforcement learning is employed
in different fields such as Game theory, Operation Research,
Information theory, multi-agent systems.

 A reinforcement learning problem can be formalized

using Markov Decision Process(MDP). In MDP, the agent
constantly interacts with the environment and performs
actions; at each action, the environment responds and
generates a new state.
Categories of Reinforcement Learning
Reinforcement learning is categorized mainly into two types of
methods/algorithms:

 Positive Reinforcement Learning: Positive reinforcement learning

specifies increasing the tendency that the required behaviour would
occur again by adding something. It enhances the strength of the
behaviour of the agent and positively impacts it.
 Negative Reinforcement Learning: Negative reinforcement
learning works exactly opposite to the positive RL. It increases the
tendency that the specific behaviour would occur again by avoiding
the negative condition.

Real-world Use cases of Reinforcement Learning

 Videogames:
RL algorithms are much popular in gaming applications. It is used to
gain super-human performance. Some popular games that use RL
algorithms are AlphaGO and AlphaGO Zero.
 ResourceManagement:
The "Resource Management with Deep Reinforcement Learning"
paper showed that how to use RL in computer to automatically learn
and schedule resources to wait for different jobs in order to minimize
average job slowdown.
 Robotics:
RL is widely being used in Robotics applications. Robots are used in
the industrial and manufacturing area, and these robots are made
more powerful with reinforcement learning. There are different
industries that have their vision of building intelligent robots using
AI and Machine learning technology.
 TextMining
Text-mining, one of the great applications of NLP(Natural language
processing), is now being implemented with the help of Reinforcement
Learning by Sales force company.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Reinforcement Learning

Advantages

 It helps in solving complex real-world problems which are difficult to

be solved by general techniques.
 The learning model of RL is similar to the learning of human beings;
hence most accurate results can be found.
 Helps in achieving long term results.

Disadvantage

 RL algorithms are not preferred for simple problems.

 RL algorithms require huge data and computations.
 Too much reinforcement learning can lead to an overload of states
which can weaken the results.