Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that involves training computer algorithms to automatically learn patterns and insights from data, without being explicitly programmed. In other words, machine learning algorithms use statistical techniques to identify patterns in data, and then use those patterns to make predictions or decisions on new, unseen data.
There are three main types of machine learning: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. Supervised learning involves training a model on labeled data, where the algorithm learns to map input data to corresponding output data. Unsupervised learning involves finding patterns in unlabeled data, without any specific goal or target variable. Reinforcement learning involves learning through trial-and-error, where an algorithm learns to take actions in an environment to maximize a cumulative reward signal.
Machine learning has numerous applications in various industries, including finance, healthcare, marketing, transportation, and more. It is used for tasks such as predictive modeling, anomaly detection, natural language processing, computer vision, and recommendation systems.