Topic: Machine Learning

Machine learning is what first attracted me to data science as I finished my PhD. The ability to train a machine to do a better job at certain tasks than a human was awe inspiring. My articles about machine learning can be found here:

A pencil drawing of a robot inspecting a car. Prompt: A simple color pencil drawing a robot, inspecting a car, holding a clipboard, white background.
Using Large Language Models To Clean Data
Manually fixing messy data is tedious and slow. But thankfully, LLMs are pretty good are piecing together mangled text. Read on to find out how!
A colorful pencil drawing of two robots fussing with some techno-thingy between them. Generated with stable diffusion. Prompt: A simple color pencil drawing a ((cute robot)), plugging cat5 cable into a network switch, white background
Machine Learning Deployment:
Return Actions, Not Scores
A poorly designed machine learning model API will leave you trapped. Properly hiding your implementation will make life much easier!
An impressionistic painting based on 'Night Before the Exam' by Leonid Pasternak, generated with Stable Diffusion using img2img from the original. The painting shows four students sitting around a kitchen table studying for a exam. Prompt: Impressionistic painting, four men studying at a desk, smoking, looking over papers, window in the background.
Claude Solves SAT Analogies
Word2Vec failed to solve SAT analogies, can modern language models do better? A small test of Anthropic's Claude LLM.
A colorful illustration of a two robots sitting at a desk with with empty paper and books infront of them. One is holding a pencil. Generated with stable diffusion. Prompt: A drawing of a cute robot, color, writing with a pen, sitting at a desk
When Are Large Language Models Useful?
Large language models (LLMs) are incredibly valuable tools, but they're not for everything. Here's a simple rule to know when to use them and when to avoid them.
'A colorful watercolor illustration of a robot sitting at a desk with a typewriter infront of the robot. Generated with stable diffusion. Prompt: watercolor illustration, adorable robot, desk lamp, sitting at a typewriter, chair, desk, clear, straight lines'
How I Write with ChatGPT
OpenAI's ChatGPT is viewed as entertaining but not useful because it makes up facts. But I find it incredibly valuable for writing. Here is how I use it.
An image generated from one of my landscape photos using Stable Diffusion with img2img to make it look more like an oil painting. It shows yellow flowers, with a forest behind them. The Jura Mountains loom behind the forest, and the sky is bright blue with some large white clouds.
AI, Artists, and Technology
AI generated art took off with the open-source release of Stable Diffusion, leaving some artists worried. As an artist and machine learning engineer, here is my take.
A black and white photo of a man wearing a naval hat filing the ends of metal pipes.
Using Scikit-learn Pipelines with Pandas Dataframes
Pandas and scikiet-learn are two important libraries for building machine learning models. Here is how to get them to work together.
A black and white photo of the clock on the Customs House Tower in Boston.
Computing Machine Learning Features in Real-time
Models often derive great value from real-time features, but computing them is hard because it has to be done quickly. Here is one way I have done it successfully.
A black and white photo of bricks making up Kresge Auditorium at MIT.
Machine Learning Deployment: Shadow Mode
Deploying machine learning models is hard; Shadow Mode is one way to make testing a little easier.
A relief showing a women holding up a set of balance scales.
Interview Question: What Machine Learning Metric to Use
One of my favorite questions to ask in an interview is "What metric should you use to decide if your model works?". Read on to find out what a good answer looks like!
An impressionistic painting titled 'Night Before the Exam' by Leonid Pasternak. The painting shows four students sitting around a kitchen table studying for a exam. One student holds a skull, while the others longue around smoking or studying books or papers.
SAT2Vec: Word2Vec Versus SAT Analogies
Could Word2Vec pass the SAT analogies section and get accepted to a good college? I take a pre-trained model and find out!