Why continuous learning is key to AI

As more companies begin to experiment with and deploy machine learning in different settings, it's good to look ahead at what future systems might look like. Today, the typical sequence is to gather data, learn some underlying structure, and deploy an algorithm that systematically captures what you've learned. Gathering, preparing, and enriching the right data--particularly training data--is essential and remains a key bottleneck among companies wanting to use machine learning. I take for granted that future AI systems will rely on continuous learning as opposed to algorithms that are trained offline. Humans learn this way, and AI systems will increasingly have the capacity to do the same.