8 Biggest Challenges of Machine Learning

Last updated by Nahush Gowda on Oct 04, 2024 at 04:16 PM | Reading time: 7 minutes

1. Data Quality and Quantity

Data is the foundation of any ML system, and various studies agree that quality and quantity remain one of the biggest challenges for most applications. Usually, machine learning models require enormous datasets, but poor quality typically refers to incomplete data, noisy data, or imbalance in the dataset.

Poor quality data means either there are missing values or, worse, incorrect labeling; the result is an inaccurate prediction. Preprocessing is an important component where balancing datasets and removing noise is a necessary step for good generalization of models to new data.

This can be handled with techniques of data augmentation, generating synthetic data, and other advanced data cleaning to increase the reliability of the training data. Besides this, there are several automated data discovery and pre-processing pipelines that have begun to gain popularity because of reducing friction from this tiring step.

2. Overfitting and Underfitting

Overfitting and underfitting are some of the challenges of machine learning and have major impacts on the efficiency of a model. A model is overfitting when it learns noise in its training data, and it means it does well on a training set but performs terribly on unseen data. The opposite problem of overfitting is underfitting, where a model is too simple to comprehend the underlying structures across data.

challenges of machine learning overfitting and underfitting

Source: SuperAnnotate

The solution to overfitting often involves the use of regularization, L1/L2 penalization, k-fold cross-validation, or model simplification. In this case, underfitting can be addressed by using more complex models or adding more informative features.

3. Model Interpretability

When modeling becomes more complex, notably in deep learning models, then interpretability drops. This is critical, especially in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance where you need to explain the decision making process.

Other techniques involve SHAP and LIME, which are intended to provide insights into the decisions of a model, thus enabling it to be more interpretable. Explainable AI is also being explored in order to build trust in models, particularly in applications that affect human lives.

Also read: ML in Healthcare: Transforming Diagnostics and Treatment

4. Scalability and Infrastructure Requirements

Another one of the major challenges of machine learning is how to scale machine learning models appropriately to cater to massive datasets and efficient computations. Models usually also have to be trained on specialized hardware like GPUs and TPUs and these can become quite costly and resource-hungry. A larger dataset calls for more computational resources.

Because of these challenges, cloud-based solutions and distributed computing frameworks such as Apache Spark and TensorFlow have been developed. Scalable cloud platforms can be leveraged by organizations to process and store large volumes of data without incurring high costs.

5. Black Box Problem

The black box problem constitutes one of the most serious and continuous challenges of machine learning, especially when dealing with deep neural networks. Neural networks are made up of many layers of interconnected neurons, each learning complicated patterns in data.

That is great for excellent performance in tasks such as image recognition or natural language processing, but the sheer complexity of the network means that it cannot know exactly for what reason a certain decision was made.

Interpretability is high for less complex models, like linear regression or decision trees, but usually, they don't have the predictive power of deep learning. The more we try to increase accuracy for 2024, the less interpretability we get.

black box problem machine learning challenges

Source: Towards Data Science

XAI is an emerging field within machine learning which aims to provide a solution by blending traditional ML performance with feature interpretability techniques, and model decision rules. Explainability tools like LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) or SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) offer a view of the contribution of each feature to the model output.

6. Computational Costs

Machine learning models, and particularly deep learning models, require lots of computational resources to train. This is because models such as deep neural networks have large computational requirements which in turn incur high infrastructure costs. While GPUs and Everything (TPUs) did try to solve this, the cost of keeping and maintaining ML systems is very high for smaller organizations.

Cost reduction techniques, such as model pruning, quantization, and efficient model architectures. The cost can be reduced by using cloud-based infrastructures that are able to scale on demand, allowing elastic access to computational resources.

7. Deployment and Integration

However, once you build the model, deploying it into an actual system is a whole other beast to tackle. Therefore, the use of machine learning models in legacy systems can generally lead to extensive infrastructure adaptations. Also on top of this, it is very important to follow the model even after the launch phase is done because data in production environments might change and affect model performance so understanding regular monitoring mechanisms should be in place with a proper training frequency.

This deployment can be facilitated with technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes (containerization). These allow easier integration into existing software systems while allowing scaling models more efficiently.

8. Bias and Fairness

One of the biggest challenges of machine learning models is bias, probably leading to unfair or discriminatory outcomes. Since ML models learn from historical data, they often reflect the existing biases present therein. The serious ethical implications this causes make these models sensitive, especially in sensitive applications such as hiring, lending, and law enforcement.

Bias is tackled by fairness-aware machine learning algorithms, while tools such as adversarial debiasing help identify and reduce bias in the process of training. Additionally, in model development, the involvement of diverse teams, along with diverse representative data, becomes important for producing models of fairer ML.

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FAQs: Challenges of Machine Learning

1. What is the major challenge in machine learning?

The biggest challenge is ensuring the quality and availability of data. Large, clean, and balanced datasets will be needed to really drive the models to make predictions at a high degree of accuracy.

2. How can a person prevent overfitting in any machine learning model?

Some techniques including cross-validation, regularization, and reducing the complexity of the model can be used to avoid overfitting.

3. Why is the interpretability of a model important in machine learning?

Interpretability explains model decisions, which is crucial for regulated sectors like healthcare and finance.

4. How does scalability impact machine learning models?

As more data can be added over time, model computation also grows, hence scalability becomes a challenge that can also be resolved using cloud computing and distributed systems.

5. What are the possible steps to avoid bias in machine learning models?

Some model development with diverse datasets, multidisciplinary teams, and some fairness-aware algorithms may help minimize bias in machine learning.

Related reads:

AUTHOR

Nahush Gowda

Machine Learning

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8 Biggest Challenges of Machine Learning

Contents

Nahush Gowda

Attend our Free Webinar on How to Nail Your Next Technical Interview

How to Nail your next Technical Interview

Worried About Failing Tech Interviews?

Tools to Enhance Full Stack Development with AI

The Future of Data Science: Emerging Trends and Opportunities

Data-Driven Decision Making: Your Roadmap to Business Success

The Business Impact of Machine Learning: Real-world Case Studies

What is OpenAI? Everything You Need to Know

Mock Interviews for Generative AI: Essential Practice to Land Top AI Roles

Top Python Scripting Interview Questions and Answers You Should Practice

Complex SQL Interview Questions for Interview Preparation

Zoox Software Engineer Interview Questions to Crack Your Tech Interview

Rubrik Interview Questions for Software Engineers

Top Advanced SQL Interview Questions and Answers

Twilio Interview Questions

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