Machine Learning: A Constraint-Based Approach

Marco Gori

Morgan Kaufmann, Nov 20, 2017 - Computers - 580 pages

Machine Learning: A Constraint-Based Approach provides readers with a refreshing look at the basic models and algorithms of machine learning, with an emphasis on current topics of interest that includes neural networks and kernel machines.

The book presents the information in a truly unified manner that is based on the notion of learning from environmental constraints. While regarding symbolic knowledge bases as a collection of constraints, the book draws a path towards a deep integration with machine learning that relies on the idea of adopting multivalued logic formalisms, like in fuzzy systems. A special attention is reserved to deep learning, which nicely fits the constrained- based approach followed in this book.

This book presents a simpler unified notion of regularization, which is strictly connected with the parsimony principle, and includes many solved exercises that are classified according to the Donald Knuth ranking of difficulty, which essentially consists of a mix of warm-up exercises that lead to deeper research problems. A software simulator is also included.

• Presents fundamental machine learning concepts, such as neural networks and kernel machines in a unified manner
• Provides in-depth coverage of unsupervised and semi-supervised learning
• Includes a software simulator for kernel machines and learning from constraints that also includes exercises to facilitate learning
• Contains 250 solved examples and exercises chosen particularly for their progression of difficulty from simple to complex

What people are saying

User Review -

The book develops a new point of view of Machine Learning that is able to encompass different techniques and settings.
By seeing the problem of learning as that of satisfying constraints, the author builds a framework that
integrates symbolic and subsymbolic learning, one of the longstanding open problems in Artificial Intelligence.
At the same time, supervised and unsupervised learning, kernel machines and deep learning
are also modeled by the framework and new opportunities
arise from their combination.
All of this is discussed in the context of the problem of an agent acting in the evnrinoment, receiving feedback
and operating over time, showing how a constraint point of view can bring new insights on the problem.
The book is concerned with providing a big picture of Machine Learning, able to encompass current research directions, rather than
focusing on describing the details of each and every technique. As such, it is a must-read for researchers working in the field but
its accessiility makes it a good text for students and for people that want to get a fresh point of view on Machine Learning. 

Contents

• 2 Learning Principles: 60
• 3 Linear Threshold Machines: 122
• 4 Kernel Machines: 186
• 5 Deep Architectures: 236
• 6 Learning and Reasoning With Constraints: 340
• 7 Epilogue: 446
• 8 Answers to Exercises: 452
• C1 Functionals and Variations: 518
• C2 Basic Notion on Variations: 520
• C3 EulerLagrange Equations: 523
• C4 Variational Problems With Subsidiary Conditions: 526
• Bibliography: 534
• Index: 552
• Back Cover: 561

About the author

Professor Gori's research interests are in the field of artificial intelligence, with emphasis on machine learning and game playing. He is a co-author of the book “Web Dragons: Inside the myths of search engines technologies, Morgan Kauffman (Elsevier), 2007. He was the Chairman of the Italian Chapter of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, and the President of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence. He is in the list of top Italian scientists kept by VIAAcademy

(http://www.topitalianscientists.org/top_italian_scientists.aspx). Dr. Gori is a fellow of the IEEE, ECCAI, and IAPR.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Machine Learning: A Constraint-Based Approach
• Author: Marco Gori
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann, 2017
• ISBN: 0081006705, 9780081006702
• Length: 580 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Computer Science; Computers / Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition; Computers / Databases / General; Computers / Information Theory; Computers / Intelligence (AI) & Semantics; Computers / Neural Networks