Instead of seeing each Machine Learning (ML) method as a "shiny new object", here is an attempt to create a unified picture. There is no consensus when it comes to an ontology for ML methods; organizational principles are simply ways to get our arms around knowledge so that we are not swamped by too many unconnected notions. A powerful organization of the concepts or Ontology of ML is based on conditional expectation. Conditional Expectation of Class'y' given input attributes, x, denoted by E[y x]. Implementation of estimation of the conditional expectation with various assumptions lead, one way or the other, to ALL the ML techniques that we have today in 2016.

Instead of seeing each Machine Learning (ML) method as a "shiny new object", here is an attempt to create a unified picture. There is no consensus when it comes to an ontology for ML methods; organizational principles are simply ways to get our arms around knowledge so that we are not swamped by too many unconnected notions. A powerful organization of the concepts or Ontology of ML is based on conditional expectation. Conditional Expectation of Class'y' given input attributes, x, denoted by E[y x]. Implementation of estimation of the conditional expectation with various assumptions lead, one way or the other, to ALL the ML techniques that we have today in 2016.