machine learning
Say it: muh-SHEEN LUR-ning /məˌʃiːn ˈləːnɪŋ/ · noun
What “machine learning” means
Computers learning patterns from examples to do a task.
More precisely: Computers improving at a task by finding patterns in data rather than following explicit rules.
Example: “Your spam filter uses machine learning, improving each time you mark an email as junk.”
When to use it
In everyday technology discussion, when computers learn from examples rather than receiving a separate written rule for every case.
Similar words
AI, statistical learning, pattern recognition
Quick check
A computer studies thousands of labelled bird photos, then identifies birds in pictures it has never seen. What method is it using?
manual programming or machine learning?
Show the answer
machine learning
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