8.2 Structured and Unstructured Data
Structured data fits neatly in tables. Unstructured data is the messy stuff: text, images, audio, video.
Chapter 8: Data and AI Algorithms
Structured data lives in rows and columns with clear types - spreadsheets, databases, transaction records. Easy to search and analyse.
Unstructured data has no fixed format - social posts, emails, photos, voice notes, videos. Most of the world's data is unstructured, and deep learning is what finally made it usable at scale.
There's also semi-structured data like JSON files or emails, which have some labels (sender, date) but free-form content.
Key takeaways
Structured = tables
Unstructured = text, images, audio, video
Deep learning unlocked unstructured data