Unsupervised Learning, Recommenders, Reinforcement Learning
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Unsupervised Learning, Recommenders, Reinforcement Learning
This course is part of Machine Learning Specialization
Instructors: Andrew Ng
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What you'll learn
Use unsupervised learning techniques for unsupervised learning: including clustering and anomaly detection
Build recommender systems with a collaborative filtering approach and a content-based deep learning method
Build a deep reinforcement learning model
Details to know
8 assignments
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There are 3 modules in this course
In the third course of the Machine Learning Specialization, you will:
β’ Use unsupervised learning techniques for unsupervised learning: including clustering and anomaly detection. β’ Build recommender systems with a collaborative filtering approach and a content-based deep learning method. β’ Build a deep reinforcement learning model. The Machine Learning Specialization is a foundational online program created in collaboration between DeepLearning.AI and Stanford Online. In this beginner-friendly program, you will learn the fundamentals of machine learning and how to use these techniques to build real-world AI applications. This Specialization is taught by Andrew Ng, an AI visionary who has led critical research at Stanford University and groundbreaking work at Google Brain, Baidu, and Landing.AI to advance the AI field. This 3-course Specialization is an updated and expanded version of Andrewβs pioneering Machine Learning course, rated 4.9 out of 5 and taken by over 4.8 million learners since it launched in 2012. It provides a broad introduction to modern machine learning, including supervised learning (multiple linear regression, logistic regression, neural networks, and decision trees), unsupervised learning (clustering, dimensionality reduction, recommender systems), and some of the best practices used in Silicon Valley for artificial intelligence and machine learning innovation (evaluating and tuning models, taking a data-centric approach to improving performance, and more.) By the end of this Specialization, you will have mastered key concepts and gained the practical know-how to quickly and powerfully apply machine learning to challenging real-world problems. If youβre looking to break into AI or build a career in machine learning, the new Machine Learning Specialization is the best place to start.
This week, you will learn two key unsupervised learning algorithms: clustering and anomaly detection
What's included
13 videos1 reading2 assignments2 programming assignments
13 videosβ’Total 120 minutes
- Welcome!β’3 minutes
- What is clustering?β’4 minutes
- K-means intuitionβ’7 minutes
- K-means algorithmβ’10 minutes
- Optimization objectiveβ’11 minutes
- Initializing K-meansβ’9 minutes
- Choosing the number of clustersβ’7 minutes
- Finding unusual eventsβ’12 minutes
- Gaussian (normal) distributionβ’11 minutes
- Anomaly detection algorithmβ’12 minutes
- Developing and evaluating an anomaly detection systemβ’12 minutes
- Anomaly detection vs. supervised learningβ’8 minutes
- Choosing what features to useβ’15 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 2 minutes
- Join the DeepLearning.AI Forum to ask questions, get support, or share amazing ideas!β’2 minutes
2 assignmentsβ’Total 60 minutes
- Clusteringβ’30 minutes
- Anomaly detectionβ’30 minutes
2 programming assignmentsβ’Total 360 minutes
- k-meansβ’180 minutes
- Anomaly Detectionβ’180 minutes
What's included
15 videos3 assignments2 programming assignments1 ungraded lab
15 videosβ’Total 150 minutes
- Making recommendationsβ’6 minutes
- Using per-item featuresβ’11 minutes
- Collaborative filtering algorithmβ’14 minutes
- Binary labels: favs, likes and clicksβ’8 minutes
- Mean normalizationβ’9 minutes
- TensorFlow implementation of collaborative filteringβ’12 minutes
- Finding related itemsβ’7 minutes
- Collaborative filtering vs Content-based filteringβ’10 minutes
- Deep learning for content-based filteringβ’10 minutes
- Recommending from a large catalogueβ’8 minutes
- Ethical use of recommender systemsβ’11 minutes
- TensorFlow implementation of content-based filteringβ’5 minutes
- Reducing the number of features (optional)β’12 minutes
- PCA algorithm (optional)β’18 minutes
- PCA in code (optional)β’11 minutes
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Collaborative Filteringβ’30 minutes
- Recommender systems implementationβ’30 minutes
- Content-based filteringβ’30 minutes
2 programming assignmentsβ’Total 360 minutes
- Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systemsβ’180 minutes
- Deep Learning for Content-Based Filteringβ’180 minutes
1 ungraded labβ’Total 30 minutes
- PCA and data visualization (optional)β’30 minutes
This week, you will learn about reinforcement learning, and build a deep Q-learning neural network in order to land a virtual lunar lander on Mars!
What's included
18 videos3 readings3 assignments1 programming assignment1 ungraded lab
18 videosβ’Total 163 minutes
- What is Reinforcement Learning?β’9 minutes
- Mars rover exampleβ’7 minutes
- The Return in reinforcement learningβ’10 minutes
- Making decisions: Policies in reinforcement learningβ’3 minutes
- Review of key conceptsβ’6 minutes
- State-action value function definitionβ’11 minutes
- State-action value function exampleβ’5 minutes
- Bellman Equationβ’13 minutes
- Random (stochastic) environment (Optional)β’8 minutes
- Example of continuous state space applicationsβ’6 minutes
- Lunar landerβ’6 minutes
- Learning the state-value functionβ’17 minutes
- Algorithm refinement: Improved neural network architectureβ’3 minutes
- Algorithm refinement: Ο΅-greedy policyβ’9 minutes
- Algorithm refinement: Mini-batch and soft updates (optional)β’12 minutes
- The state of reinforcement learningβ’3 minutes
- Summary and thank youβ’3 minutes
- Andrew Ng and Chelsea Finn on AI and Roboticsβ’33 minutes
3 readingsβ’Total 5 minutes
- [IMPORTANT] Reminder about end of access to Lab Notebooksβ’2 minutes
- Acknowledgmentsβ’2 minutes
- (Optional) Opportunity to Mentor Other Learnersβ’1 minute
3 assignmentsβ’Total 90 minutes
- Reinforcement learning introductionβ’30 minutes
- State-action value functionβ’30 minutes
- Continuous state spacesβ’30 minutes
1 programming assignmentβ’Total 180 minutes
- Reinforcement Learningβ’180 minutes
1 ungraded labβ’Total 60 minutes
- State-action value function (optional lab)β’60 minutes
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Reviewed on Oct 9, 2024
This is a good beginner course . I have been reading around topics and when you jumble around it is hard to follow. This course structure was what i was looking for. i would recommend this to others
Reviewed on Sep 22, 2025
Thank you so much this is a great course, and thanks for the financial aid that enabled me to study the course and improve my skills and career. this specialization is so valuable and useful.
Reviewed on Dec 12, 2024
Andrew was a great teacher, explaining complicated topics in a simple and intuitive way. The programming assignments helped to put theory into practice. A great place to start learning a new field!
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When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
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