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Machine Learning Expert

In a world where data and information is one of the most important assets for companies, professionals who analyze large amounts of data have become essential.

In this article we will talk about machine learning experts. Who are these professionals? What work do they do? What are your skills?

Stay and discover all this and much more about AI professionals.

What is an expert in machine learning or artificial intelligence?

A machine learning expert is a professional in the technology sector who is capable of building statistical models using programming and data analysis technologies.

The demand for artificial intelligence experts is rising exponentially. Creating models capable of predicting new results is a very interesting skill for all types of companies. It helps them optimize business decisions and increase their profits.

As we will see in the next section, acquiring the skills necessary to be an expert in machine learning is not an easy task. A great transversal knowledge of different technological tools and methodologies is required in addition to mastering areas such as computer science or mathematics.

In order to become an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, it is important to train properly. In online academies like Udemy or Coursera you can find some fairly complete courses on machine learning.

However, if you prefer to have a much more advanced level and choose to do an internship in a major company, you can do a master's or postgraduate degree in some of the disciplines related to data science.

For more information you can consult our articles on master's degrees in big data, master's degrees and postgraduate degrees in machine learning or master's degrees in business intelligence.

Skills of an AI expert

If you want to become a good artificial intelligence engineer you must master some skills. Below we show you the minimum requirements to become an expert in machine learning.

Mathematics

Mastering mathematics is a skill that anyone who works in the world of data must have. Most machine learning methodologies make use of areas such as linear algebra, multivariable calculus or statistics.

It is important to understand mathematics deeply to be able to draw good conclusions from the results we obtain from the calculations. Furthermore, it is also very useful for implementing models using programming languages.

Programming languages

Most artificial intelligence algorithms are implemented through programming languages. In the world of data sciences, the most used language currently is Python.

This is an easy language to learn compared to others like Java or C++. If you want to master artificial intelligence, learning to program is one of the first steps you should take.

Knowledge of the models

Once you have knowledge of mathematics and programming, the next step is to understand the bases of artificial intelligence. Some of the models that you must master are: decision trees , random forest, neural networks , support vector machine, convolutional neural networks or recurrent neural networks .

We can acquire this knowledge through online courses or reading books. One of the most recommended books to learn these methods in depth is Deep Learning by Goodfellow and Yoshua Bengio.

Analysis of data

Another point to take into account is the data analysis methodologies. For example, mastering data cleaning or feature engineering procedures is highly recommended.

It is also important to know how to graph data to be able to see the results visually and create reports so that other departments can understand our conclusions.

Databases

In order to work as a machine learning expert, you must also understand what they are. SQL databases and NoSQL . Knowing how to create a database, enter information and extract it to process and analyze it is essential.

Today the most optimal way to store information is in a database and the main element of machine learning is data. Therefore, you have to know how to handle all types of databases.

Big data ideas

Although big data skills are not normally the responsibility of the machine learning expert, having notions of distributed data processing never hurts.

It is important to know some elements of the Hadoop ecosystem such as Hadoop distributed file system (HDFS) , I have Spark framework either distributed databases like Cassandra . You don't need to become an expert in these technologies, but it is important that you know a little about how they work and how they are implemented.

Functions of a self-directed learning professional

The functions of a professional in the AI ​​sector will depend on which company they work for. I leave you 3 different functions that a machine learning expert can carry out so you can get an idea of ​​what projects they can develop.

Classification models

One of the main functions of a machine learning expert is to be able to create classification models. I will give you several examples so that you understand what fields can be applied.

In medicine, machine learning can be used to discriminate which drugs can potentially work from those that do not. This is used in the field of drug design.

In the field of banking, classification systems are used to detect fraudulent transactions and block them immediately.

In biology, programs are used that use multiclassification to be able to label a plant according to its species from a photo.

Recommendation systems

Creating recommendation systems is also part of an expert in artificial intelligence. These methods are used on multiple platforms such as Netflix, HBO or Spotify with the aim of showing the user possible recommendations based on their tastes and searches.

Machine translation models

Simultaneous translation is a field of machine learning called natural language processing. Building these models using recurrent neural networks is also a function of a machine learning expert.

Another type of similar function is, for example, sentiment analysis, a branch that consists of identifying people's feelings from the messages they write on social networks, being able to know if they are messages of anger, joy and sadness.