How To Get Started With Machine Learning: A Tutorial For Beginners By A Beginner

Machine learning and AI as a whole can seem hugely daunting when you're first getting started. Over a weekend, I painstakingly sifted through all of the "beginner" guides on how to get started, so that you don't have to. Most people recommend an image classifier using the MNIST dataset as your'hello world'/first machine learning program - I'm not sure if there is just an obscenely high barrier to entry, or if I'm simply just stupid, but for someone who wants to go from zero to something in the world of machine learning, this project seems a bit tricky. Now, of course, I attempted it. I read anything and everything that I could get my hands on about the inner workings of how neural networks ACTUALLY work. I thought I had a pretty rudimentary understanding of what was going on, but with pre-made datasets and perplexing technical jargon, it's often hard to dilute what is actually happening - I'm still not entirely sure what the f*ck a 2D convolutional layer is.