Machine Learning Advice for Developers

So you're a programmer and want to get your hands dirty with some artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)? I did an interview with TechWorld on machine learning advice for developers, but the final writeup didn't include most of the material, so here are the questions with my full answers: When I started in AI and ML I read Peter Norvig's "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach", and I've probably read it three times now. It's important to fundamentally understand the algorithms you'll be using, otherwise every ML method is a black box and the best you can do is blindly throw them at problems. Then try doing ML projects, like Kaggle competitions, where you have a clear definition of what you're trying to learn--like a specific algorithm or toolkit. You're going to fail, often, but that's how to best learn ML techniques.