


Python Java JavaScript SQL C++ HTML CSS React
← prev next →

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

In this topic, we will provide a detailed description of the types of Machine Learning along
with their respective algorithms:

ADVERTISEMENT

1. Supervised Machine Learning

As its name suggests, Supervised machine learning is based on supervision. It means in
the supervised learning technique, we train the machines using the "labelled" dataset, and
based on the training, the machine predicts the output. Here, the labelled data specifies
that some of the inputs are already mapped to the output. More preciously, we can say;
first, we train the machine with the input and corresponding output, and then we ask the
machine to predict the output using the test dataset.
Let's understand supervised learning with an example. Suppose we have an input dataset
of cats and dog images. So, first, we will provide the training to the machine to understand
the images, such as the shape & size of the tail of cat and dog, Shape of eyes, colour,
height (dogs are taller, cats are smaller), etc. After completion of training, we input the
picture of a cat and ask the machine to identify the object and predict the output. Now, the
machine is well trained, so it will check all the features of the object, such as height, shape,
colour, eyes, ears, tail, etc., and find that it's a cat. So, it will put it in the Cat category. This is
the process of how the machine identifies the objects in Supervised Learning.

The main goal of the supervised learning technique is to map the input variable(x) with the
output variable(y). Some real-world applications of supervised learning are Risk
Assessment, Fraud Detection, Spam filtering, etc.

Categories of Supervised Machine Learning

Supervised machine learning can be classified into two types of problems, which are given
below:

Classification

Regression

a) Classification
Classification algorithms are used to solve the classification problems in which the output
variable is categorical, such as "Yes" or No, Male or Female, Red or Blue, etc. The
classification algorithms predict the categories present in the dataset. Some real-world
examples of classification algorithms are Spam Detection, Email filtering, etc.

Some popular classification algorithms are given below:

Random Forest Algorithm

Decision Tree Algorithm

Logistic Regression Algorithm

Support Vector Machine Algorithm

b) Regression
Regression algorithms are used to solve regression problems in which there is a linear
relationship between input and output variables. These are used to predict continuous
output variables, such as market trends, weather prediction, etc.

Some popular Regression algorithms are given below:

Simple Linear Regression Algorithm

Multivariate Regression Algorithm

Decision Tree Algorithm

Lasso Regression

Advantages and Disadvantages of Supervised Learning

Advantages:

Since supervised learning work with the labelled dataset so we can have an exact idea
about the classes of objects.

These algorithms are helpful in predicting the output on the basis of prior experience.

Disadvantages:

These algorithms are not able to solve complex tasks.

It may predict the wrong output if the test data is different from the training data.

It requires lots of computational time to train the algorithm.

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 different from the Supervised learning technique; as its name
suggests, there is no need for supervision. It means, in unsupervised machine learning, the
machine is trained using the unlabeled dataset, and the machine predicts the output
without any supervision.

In unsupervised learning, the models are trained with the data that is neither classified nor
labelled, and the model acts on that data without any supervision.

The main aim of the unsupervised learning algorithm is to group or categories the unsorted
dataset according to the similarities, patterns, and differences. Machines are instructed to
find the hidden patterns from the input dataset.

Let's take an example to understand it more preciously; suppose there is a basket of fruit
images, and we input it into the machine learning model. The images are totally unknown
to the model, and the task of the machine is to find the patterns and categories of the
objects.

So, now the machine will discover its patterns and differences, such as colour difference,
shape difference, and predict the output when it is tested with the test dataset.

Categories of Unsupervised Machine Learning

Unsupervised Learning can be further classified into two types, which are given below:

Clustering

Association
1) Clustering
The clustering technique is used when we want to find the inherent groups from the data. It
is a way to group the objects into a cluster such that the objects with the most similarities
remain in one group and have fewer or no similarities with the objects of other groups. An
example of the clustering algorithm is grouping the customers by their purchasing
behaviour.

Some of the popular clustering algorithms are given below:

K-Means Clustering algorithm

Mean-shift algorithm

DBSCAN Algorithm

Principal Component Analysis

Independent Component Analysis

2) Association
Association rule learning is an unsupervised learning technique, which finds interesting
relations among variables within a large dataset. The main aim of this learning algorithm is
to find the dependency of one data item on another data item and map those variables
accordingly so that it can generate maximum profit. This algorithm is mainly applied in
Market Basket analysis, Web usage mining, continuous production, etc.

Some popular algorithms of Association rule learning are Apriori Algorithm, Eclat, FP-
growth algorithm.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Unsupervised Learning Algorithm

Advantages:

These algorithms can be used for complicated tasks compared to the supervised
ones because these algorithms work on the unlabeled dataset.

Unsupervised algorithms are preferable for various tasks as getting the unlabeled
dataset is easier as compared to the labelled dataset.

Disadvantages:
 The output of an unsupervised algorithm can be less accurate as the dataset is not
labelled, and algorithms are not trained with the exact output in prior.

Working with Unsupervised learning is more difficult as it works with the unlabelled
dataset that does not map with the output.

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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 unlabeled
datasets during the training period.

Although Semi-supervised learning is the middle ground between supervised and

unsupervised learning and operates on the data that consists of a few labels, it mostly
consists of unlabeled data. As labels are costly, but for corporate purposes, they may have
few labels. It is completely different from supervised and unsupervised learning as they are
based on the presence & absence of labels.

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 unlabeled data into labelled data. It is because
labelled data is a comparatively more expensive acquisition than unlabeled data.

We can imagine these algorithms with an example. Supervised learning is where a student
is under the supervision of an instructor at home and college. Further, if that student is self-
analysing the same concept without any help from the instructor, it comes under
unsupervised learning. Under semi-supervised learning, the student has to revise himself
after analyzing the same concept under the guidance of an instructor at college.

Advantages and disadvantages of Semi-supervised Learning

Advantages:

It is simple and easy to understand the algorithm.

It is highly efficient.

It is used to solve drawbacks of Supervised and Unsupervised Learning algorithms.

Disadvantages:

Iterations results may not be stable.

We cannot apply these algorithms to network-level data.

Accuracy is low.

ADVERTISEMENT
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

Video Games:
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.

Resource Management:
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.

Text Mining
Text-mining, one of the great applications of NLP, is now being implemented with the
help of Reinforcement Learning by Salesforce 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.