In the July Scientific American, Caltech electrical engineering and computer science professor Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa describes recent advances in machine learning:
![Machines that think for themselves [image courtesy Scientific American].](http://www.cccblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/machines-that-think-for-themselves_2.jpeg "Machines that think for themselves [image courtesy Scientific American].")
A couple of years ago the directors of a women’s clothing company asked me to help them develop better fashion recommendations for their clients. No one in their right mind would seek my personal advice in an area I know so little about — I am, after all, a male computer scientist — but they were not asking for my personal advice. They were asking for my machine-learning advice, and I obliged. Based purely on sales figures and client surveys, I was able to recommend to women whom I have never met fashion items I have never seen. My recommendations beat the performance of professional stylists. Mind you, I still know very little about women’s fashion [more following the link].
» Read more: “How to Teach Computers to Learn on Their Own”
