What is deep learning? | Deep Learning - FierceElectronics

Deep learning is one of the most promising techniques for training machines to "think" like people by Cabe Atwell, Engineer, Machinist, Maker, Writer.

Photo: Danor_a /iStock/Getty Images Plus

Technology continues to advance at incredible rates. From self-driving vehicles to supercomputers and autonomous drones, the kind of world depicted in I, Robot, is becoming our reality – for better or worse. What’s driving this technology? Artificial intelligence (AI) and its many subcategories, including machine and deep learning. 

While AI is an enormous field that encompasses all machines that can execute tasks that otherwise require human intellect, and machine learning is the process by which machines can learn new tasks autonomously, deep learning is a different beast entirely. Deep learning is a subset of both AI and machine learning and attempts to build the first machines capable of human-like thought. It relies on algorithms to process information and ‘learn’ new skills in a way that mimics how the human brain learns. 

So, if deep learning is about training machines to process code like the human brain, how does it work?... 

Deep learning is the future of AIDeep learning is still an early development, but it’s certainly one of the more powerful techniques in use today to make autonomous, self-thinking machines. While today it’s used in applications such as virtual assistants, marketing algorithms, facial recognition software, and chatbots, this same technology will also power self-driving cars, autonomous data-gathering drones, and so much more in the not-so-distant future. 

If you’re interested in learning more about deep learning, check out the book Deep Learning (MIT Press), a foundational text in the field. 

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Recommended Reading 

Deep Learning

(Adaptive Computation and Machine Learning series)

Source: FierceElectronics