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Supervised vs. Unsupervised Learning | Built In

Supervised learning and unsupervised learning are machine learning processes that train AI models to recognize patterns, make predictions and improve their performance over time.

Supervised learning relies on labeled datasets that show clear relationships between inputs and outputs, while unsupervised learning uses unlabeled data, allowing the model to discover patterns on its own — without “supervision.”

How Supervised Learning and Unsupervised Learning Compare

There are many other nuances between supervised and unsupervised learning, with one tending to perform better than the other depending on the use case. But both play an important role in teaching models to analyze information and produce accurate results.

More on AIRead Built In’s Artificial Intelligence Coverage

What Is Supervised Learning?

Supervised learning is a form of machine learning that uses labeled datasets, meaning both input and output data are tagged with descriptive information.

For example, in a set of animal images, each picture is labeled depending on whether it depicts a dog, cat, bird, rabbit, horse and so on. Then, when the model is tasked with identifying a horse or differentiating between a cat or a dog, it is fed the correct answer — over and over again. This iterative process allows the model to gradually improve to the point where it is capable of making accurate decisions based on new data fed into it.

The input data is divided into features — measurable variables that provide additional information to the model — and the output data is grouped into specific categories using labels. This teaches the model what elements it needs to pay attention to in order to make correct identifications, comparisons and predictions. In the case of animal images, features might include things like size, color, breed and ear shape, while labels might be the species of each animal, like dog, cat and rabbit.

Supervised Learning Tasks

Supervised learning is primarily applied to two kinds of problems: classification and regression.

Applications of Supervised Learning

Supervised learning has all kinds of real-world use cases, including:

What Is Unsupervised Learning?

Unsupervised learning is a form of machine learning where a model is trained on raw, unstructured data that has no predefined features or labels. Rather than being told the relationships between input and output data, the model finds hidden patterns and intrinsic structures independently, without human intervention. 

Unsupervised learning is useful when the commonalities within a dataset are not immediately obvious or clear. For example, a business can collect customer data (purchasing behavior, browsing history, location, gender, age, etc.) and group similar customers together, enabling them to make targeted ads and emails, and even predict future behavior.

Unsupervised Learning Tasks

Unsupervised learning is typically used in three kinds of tasks: clustering, association and dimensionality reduction. 

Applications of Unsupervised Learning

Unsupervised learning is applicable in many scenarios, including:

Related ReadingThe Top 10 Machine Learning Algorithms to Know

Main Differences Between Supervised Learning and Unsupervised Learning

The use of labeled versus unlabeled data causes many other differences between supervised learning and unsupervised learning:

When to Use Supervised Learning vs. Unsupervised Learning

While both supervised learning and unsupervised learning serve a vital function in the development of artificial intelligence, each contributes in unique ways. 

Supervised Learning Excels at Making Predictions With Labeled Data 

Supervised learning is best used when the data is labeled and the goal is to predict a specific outcome. This might include what tomorrow’s temperature will be, whether or not a customer will churn or if an incoming email is spam. It’s best to use this approach in situations when there are clear inputs and corresponding outputs, which allows the model to learn from past data and make accurate predictions on new data it hasn’t seen before. 

Unsupervised Learning Is Designed to Handle Unlabeled Data

Unsupervised learning is more helpful in finding new patterns and relationships in unlabeled data. It is used in exploratory data analysis, which involves examining datasets to discover hidden trends and groupings without predefined categories or outcomes. It is also effective in identifying data points that deviate from the norm within a larger dataset, without needing labels to indicate exactly which points are anomalous. 

Supervised Learning Better Promotes Transparent Training

Because supervised learning requires humans to manually label data, it results in more oversight over the model training process. It’s true that this can be time-intensive and less efficient than unsupervised learning. But if a team is looking to prioritize transparency in its AI solutions, then supervised learning offers a greater degree of control over the development of machine learning models and allows teams to better explain how models make decisions

Unsupervised Learning Is Great for Initial Data Analysis

The ability of unsupervised learning to discern general trends among unlabeled data makes it ideal for initial analysis of new data. It can group data into clusters, share general insights and label data accordingly. This now-labeled data can then be used later on to conduct supervised learning and fine-tune models as needed.

More AI BasicsArtificial Intelligence vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

What Is Semi-Supervised Learning?

It’s also possible to have the best of both worlds. Semi-supervised learning is a hybrid approach that combines elements of supervised and unsupervised learning. It begins by training a model on a small amount of labeled data and has it make predictions on a larger amount of unlabeled data. The model is then trained repeatedly on labeled and unlabeled data, improving its knowledge and performance each time. 

Semi-supervised learning is most effective in situations where adding a little bit of labeled training data can greatly enhance performance, such as classifying medical images. It can also be used for analyzing speech, sorting internet content and studying protein sequences

Other Hybrid Approaches

Semi-supervised learning is just one type of hybrid learning. Below are a few other hybrid approaches in machine learning that are good to know: 

What is the difference between supervised learning and unsupervised learning?

Supervised learning and unsupervised learning have many differences, including:

What is an example of supervised learning?

A common example of supervised learning is spam detection systems, which sift through email inboxes and classify incoming messages as “spam” or “not spam” — taking into account factors like formatting and word-choice.

What is an example of unsupervised learning?

A common example of unsupervised learning is customer segmentation, which involves analyzing customer data and organizing individuals into subgroups based on their common characteristics and habits (demographics, past behavior, preferences. etc.). This can be used to help businesses create more targeted ads and marketing emails, provide more personalized recommendations — and even predict customer behavior.


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