Machine Learning - A new journey

Few weeks ago, I started the Machine Learning course on Coursera by Andrew Ng of Stanford University. The course is great, learning a lot of new concepts. Sometimes it is hard, but it is really fun learning this new topic and brushing up the old Math lessons of Linear Algebra, matrix manipulation and derivatives.

The course starts with the basics, including a primer on Linear Algebra (it is optional, but I took it anyway since it has been more than a decade when I learned it in college). At the end of each module, there is a quiz and programming assignments, which are interesting.

In addition to the content, I love the way this course is making me think hard and concentrate for long periods of time to understand the concepts and basics. This experience is very different from learning a new programming language or framework where there is a set pattern of how you learn.

In fact, I had started the course early this year, but couldn’t keep up with the schedule due to work load. But this time, I am forcing myself to stick with it because I want to learn the subject as soon as I can. I am convinced that Machine Learning is the future of technology and I have to master it sooner than later. After all, as Douglas Rushkoff reminds us, I want to Program, not Be Programmed.

 
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