My first step in the journey of machine learning
27 Nov, 2019
Today I start my tiny little step in the long journey of machine learning
Rewind a bit
Last year, I joined Tomochain, a blockchain company in Vietnam (which is one of the leaders of this industry in South East Asia) with the belief that blockchain technology will change our world drastically as what the Internet did in the ’90s. That’s why blockchain is also called web 3.0
But I figured out that we can’t apply blockchain in many things in our world. Oops!
Why is that?
Well, at the moment, most of the applications based on blockchain technology are financial related. For example: lending, gambling, trading, …
I don’t say that there is no application in other industries, we had logistics blockchain solution for sure, but they are still minor compared to the number of blockchain applications in financial industries.
So why machine learning?
After deep learning potential is exposed, the AI hype is bigger than ever. And I believe that AI/Machine Learning/ Deep Learning are gonna change our world drastically. They can create meaningful innovations for our life and allow people to spend time doing what is truly important.
Heard about this startup backed by Bill Gates? Bill Gates backs startup using sunlight to create 1,000C-plus heat
Into the journey
The first website that I think about when start learning new thing is Udemy. Those $9.99 courses are so cheap, even for a Vietnamese person like me. Also, they took only about 20-40 hours to complete, to grasp some basic information about whatever we want to learn.
Coursera, edX, Udacity are also great MOOC websites, but their courses are so expensive and long, which are not suitable for a full time developer like me.
So I bought 2 courses:
- Machine Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science
- Deep Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Artificial Neural Networks
Both courses are from the same lecturer, I think somehow it’s better for consistent learning.
I also applied for a free Deep Learning Nanodegree from Developer Circle of Facebook. You can check more info here https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-developer-circle-kathmandu/announcing-developer-circles-2019-training-courses/2411780265720001/
Well, that’s all at the moment. Hopefully I can complete these 2 Udemy courses this December, and continue with the Deep Learning Nanodegree next year.
Update 2019-12-07
I’ve requested a refund for this course Deep Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Artificial Neural Networks because the content is quite outdated. I can’t follow the material in this course.
I’m thinking about this specialization Deep Learning Specialization from Coursera.
But I will wait until I can finish the course Machine Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science
Update 2019-12-23
I found a course that fit my learning style.
It’s Practical Deep Learning for Coders, v3
Because I’m a software developer, so theory in linear algebra, calculus, probabilities make me sleepy.
I think most people are like me, we learn better with top-down approach (just run the code first, then learn the theory later).
The other approach is bottom-up, which is exactly this course from Andrew Ng: Deep Learning Specialization
So choose it wisely. Not all people can learn bottom-up.
