Anna Bosman - Introduction to Machine Learning: from k-NNs to NNs [IndabaX South Africa 2022]

Talk by Anna Bosman at the Deep Learning Indaba𝕏 South Africa 2022
[https://indabax.co.za]

Talk description: This introductory lecture will cover the very basics of machine learning (ML), such as the difference between classification and regression, what is it that the machines can learn from data, and how must you prepare your data before you feed it to a machine eager to learn. We will also take a brief tour of the major ML models and algorithms, such as k-nearest neighbours, decision trees, and neural networks. There is only so much we can cover in a short time, but expect to get a broad idea of the purpose and major tools that constitute ML after attending this lecture.

Speaker bio: I am a senior lecturer of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria. I have completed my M.Sc at the University of Pretoria in 2012, with a thesis focused on using particle swarm optimisation to train feed-forward neural networks in dynamic environments. I have then enrolled for a PhD degree at the same university. The focus of my PhD dissertation was on fitness landscape analysis of neural network loss surfaces. I have completed the PhD degree in 2019. My current research interests lie in neural networks, swarm intelligence, fitness landscape analysis, time-series analysis, high-dimensional optimisation, and deep learning. I am interested in developing a better fundamental understanding of how and why neural networks work. I enjoy working on hybrid approaches that combine different computational intelligence paradigms. I also love seeing machine learning in action, thus I am always keen to try my hand at real-life applications. In particular, I dabble in computer vision and satellite image analysis using convolutional neural networks.

See more, get involved, and strengthen machine learning in Africa at www.deeplearningindaba.com/indabax