Applied Machine Learning

The course gives an introduction to machine learning techniques and theory, with a focus on its use in practical applications. During the course, a selection of topics will be covered in supervised learning, such as linear models for regression and classification, or nonlinear models such as neural networks, and in unsupervised learning such as clustering. The use cases and limitations of these algorithms will be discussed, and their implementation will be investigated in programming assignments. Methodological questions pertaining to the evaluation of machine learning systems will also be discussed, as well as some of the ethical questions that can arise when applying machine learning technologies. There will be a strong emphasis on the real-world context in which machine learning systems are used. The use of machine learning components in practical applications will be exemplified, and realistic scenarios will be studied in application areas such as ecommerce, business intelligence, natural language processing, image processing, and bioinformatics. The importance of the design and selection of features, and their reliability, will be discussed.