How to Start Your Journey into AI with Transfer Learning

AI is coming – Transfer Learning provides a way to dip your corporation’s toe into the AI pool.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Transfer Learning (TL)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) it used to be the future.  But now, it is rapidly becoming the present. And businesses will either utilize it or be left behind. Obviously, it is in your best interest to learn how AI can work for your business.  That is where Transfer learning comes in.

What is Transfer Learning (TL)

Transfer Learning (TL) is a machine learning technique in which a data model is trained for one task in a large data set, then re-purposed and applied to a second, typically much smaller, data set.  It optimizes Machine Learning (ML), which enables businesses to achieve rapid progress and enhanced performance when applied to their business objective.

The biggest impediment to beginning your first project is having enough normalized data to train a model.   Teaching an AI model is a laborious task typically taking dozens of computers, millions of data points and weeks of processing time.  Small Businesses want to leverage AI but don’t have the resources and skills to do this while still running their daily operations.  Even once trained, AI learning is never-ending but must continue to adapt as our world is ever changing.

In simplest terms, Transfer Learning provides a way to take full advantage of AI, and gives your business an enormous competitive advantage

How Can TL Be Applied to My Business and What Will it Do for Me?

The first step in TL is to have a base network, data set and task where AI can be trained on effective decision making. Then that AI model is applied to a similar data set within your business.

TL has been particularly applicable in both Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Vision/Image projects, because these models, having been run against enormous data sets over long periods of time, are highly reusable and well-defined.  This allows a business to apply the trained model, to its specific data which, with expert tuning, will generate similar results.

TL can be enormously beneficial in specific areas, such as product cataloguing, image classification, purchase prediction, branding impact, and others.  As mentioned earlier, AI once was the future, but it is rapidly becoming the present.  And, as any competitive business knows full well, when the future becomes the present, the present becomes the past.  We strongly urge that you come along for the ride, by conducting a trial project, to find out first-hand what TL can do for you.

How Does My Business Get started?

The steps to get started are simple.  They involve a short series of virtual work sessions where our experienced Data Scientists learn about your key business objectives and available corporate data.  These work sessions start with Data Discovery and building of a Feasibility Plan.  We can then identify established proven TL model algorithms that can be applied to your business’s available data set.

Bottom Line: 

It’s quite obvious that the AI train is coming down the tracks. You have the opportunity to either get on board or be run over. Transfer Learning is a low risk, speedy way for your business to stay in the present – and maybe even move into the future. 

ByJohn Kullmann | Published on July 15th, 2020 | Last updated on February 15th, 2021 | Robotic Process Automation