After talked with numbers of people who are interested in or expert at Machine Learning (ML), I started to understand that ML, at its core, is about prediction: predicting what we want, the results of actions, how to achieve goals, how the world will change.

If we look at learning algorithms as seeds, data as soil, the learned programs as the grown plants, then a ML expert is like a farmer. So how to identify a good farmer for your business? let's share some ideas with you.

“Hundreds of new learning algorithms are invented every year, but they're all based on the same few basic ideas.” As Prof. Pedro Domingos said,

"Many computer scientists, esp. those of an older generation, don't understand machine learning as they'd like to. This is because computer scientist has traditionally been all about thinking deterministically, but machine learning requires thinking statistically.

This difference in thinking is a large part of why Microsoft has had a lot more trouble catching up with Google than it did with Netscape. At the end of the day,  a browser is just a standard piece of software, but a search engine requires a different mindset."

( ps, We are looking for a ML expert to intellectualize our financial models, please contact us if you are interested in equity research)