Lesson 5 of 7 · All lessons in this module
  1. Fintech and the four Vs of Big Data
  2. Sources of Big Data and its challenges
  3. AI and how machine learning learns
  4. Overfitting, underfitting and model fit
  5. Supervised, unsupervised and deep learning
  6. Data science: processing and visualisation
  7. Text analytics, NLP and data science tools

Lesson 5 of 7 · 12 min

Supervised, unsupervised and deep learning

Supervised learning learns from labelled examples to predict, unsupervised learning finds structure in unlabelled data, and deep learning uses many-layered neural networks, with either approach, to recognise complex patterns.

In short

  • Supervised learning: inputs and outputs are labelled; the model learns the mapping and then predicts outcomes for new data.
  • Unsupervised learning: no labels; the algorithm describes the data and their structure, such as grouping firms into peer groups.
  • Deep learning: neural networks with many hidden layers doing multistage, non-linear processing; it can be supervised or unsupervised.
  • Deep learning builds from simple concepts to complex ones and excels at image, pattern and speech recognition.
  • Investment uses include forecasting market direction, choosing signals, predicting mergers or elections, and reading satellite images of car parks, ports, factories and crops.

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