4.1 What Is Machine Learning?
Machine learning is teaching computers by showing them examples instead of writing out every rule.
Chapter 4: Introduction to Machine Learning (ML)
Arthur Samuel, who coined the term in 1959, described machine learning as giving computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. He built a checkers program that ended up playing better than he did.
Here's the switch in thinking. Traditional programming: you give the computer rules + data and it gives you answers. Machine learning: you give it data + answers and it figures out the rules.
Want a program that spots cats in photos? Writing rules for "cat-ness" is basically impossible. But show it 50,000 photos labelled cat / not cat, and it learns the pattern itself.
Key takeaways
ML = learning from examples, not hand-written rules
Coined by Arthur Samuel in 1959
You give data + answers, it finds the rules