We as humans learn from patterns and adjust our behaviors accordingly because of our amazing brains. But what if computers were able to do the same? Now that possibility is a reality with machine learning. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence in which systems learn to identify patterns from data, and are able to make decisions with little to no human intervention.
Machine learning is not new – the theory that computers can learn without being programmed to perform specific tasks has already been proven. However, recent developments have allowed systems to automatically apply complex calculations to big data at very fast speeds. This technology has the possibility to be applied to many aspects of our lives.
A More Efficient Way to Process Data
The growing research into machine learning has produced the ability to automatically produce models that can take extremely complex data (and bigger data) and analyze it. The results delivered are faster and more accurate than ever before. This has allowed companies who make use of machine learning to work much more efficiently than before, when working with large amounts of data.
Banks and other financial service businesses have found machine learning very useful. They use it to identify important aspects in their large amounts of data, allowing them to identify investment opportunities and help their investors decide when to trade. It is also found useful for preventing fraud by quickly and effortlessly identifying high-risk clients, or pinpointing warning signs of fraud.
Similar to financial businesses, government agencies have also found a place for machine learning to detect fraud and prevent identity theft. In the health care field, wearable devices have become huge for assessing patient health in real time; machine learning is used to quickly and efficiently analyze data from these wearable technologies to identify red flags to help diagnose and treat patients. These are just some of the fields currently using machine learning, but there are others already.
Recent Uses in Hiring
The opportunities machine learning brings are endless and we are just getting started. Recently, the technology has been found useful for hiring. As technology advances rapidly into the job sphere, people have no choice but to work with it – in the case of machine learning, it is bringing improvements to the hiring process. For example, machine learning can make the process of hiring more efficient by processing applications faster than humans can. This greatly reduces the time it takes a company to recruit and hire a new employee.
Instead of an HR recruiter going through countless applications on job sites, etc, they can rely on machine learning to find the best applicants and give good recommendations. Another advantage of machine learning is that it does not allow for bias. The algorithms will focus on skill-based data, rather than just where the candidate has studied or worked, or physical qualities. Machine learning can make the hiring process, both, more efficient and more valuable than it was before.
Future Application
Although machine learning has showed huge potential for making countless processes involving data more quick and efficient, there are some human qualities machine learning cannot replace. Humans will still be needed for any qualitative aspects, such as understanding why a job candidate is pursuing a certain job – are they looking for more money, or something to use for leverage in negotiations with their current employer?
There are many other examples of specific tasks that machine learning will not be able to complete as they can only work with quantitative aspects of the data. However, machine learning is an extremely helpful and versatile tool that will be used and improve our everyday life for many years to come.
