Machine Learning Some Likely Developments in 2018

The biggest and most important trend in 2018 will be the transformation of machine learning practice from a hand-crafted ad hoc operation to a more systematic and automated process. Data preparation, exploratory analysis, and model fitting will all be done using visual platforms that will reduce the importance of coding, and place more emphasis on the ability to formulate business problems and the understanding of techniques. The adoption of comprehensive data science platforms and the reduced importance of coding will mean that domain experts, rather than professional data scientists, will be able to do a lot of sophisticated analysis. The role of machine learning engineers will change, and they will work in a team with domain experts where they will function less as end-to-end developers, and more as technical consultants. Deep learning will continue to be the most important machine learning technology in 2018.