清晰彩色Whenmostpeoplehear“MachineLearning,”theypicturearobot:adependablebutleroradeadlyTerminatordependingonwhoyouask.ButMachineLearningisnotjustafuturisticfantasy,it’salreadyhere.Infact,ithasbeenaroundfordecadesinsomespecializedapplications,suchasOpticalCharacterRecognition(OCR).ButthefirstMLapplicationthatreallybecamemainstream,improvingthelivesofhundredsofmillionsofpeople,tookovertheworldbackinthe1990s:itwasthespamfilter.Notexactlyaself-awareSkynet,butitdoestechnicallyqualifyasMachineLearning(ithasactuallylearnedsowellthatyouseldomneedtoflaganemailasspamanymore).ItwasfollowedbyhundredsofMLapplicationsthatnowquietlypowerhundredsofproductsandfeaturesthatyouuseregularly,frombetterrecommendationstovoicesearch.
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