Working with artificial intelligence is one of the areas where Python is doing its best. The code for smart video cameras, unmanned vehicles, and recommendation systems in online stores and video hosting sites is written in this language. They all use neural networks in their work, incredibly complex programs that simulate the functioning of the human brain. In this article, we'll explain how they work and how teaching kids how to program in Python prepares them for a career as a data scientist.
How neural networks differ from ordinary computer programs
Neural networks got their name precisely because of their resemblance to the brain. They consider of many analytical elements (like the brain and neurons) that are able to receive data, perform some operations on it and transmit it further. This is exactly how brain cells work with information.
The main difference between such systems and traditional analytical programs is that they go beyond computer algorithms. To teach a neural network to recognize a cat in pictures, a programmer does not have to code the characteristics of cats. The use of neurons allows these “electronic brains” to understand the environment, identify different objects from it, and recognize them if they change slightly.
Neural networks operate on a black box basis. This means that neither users nor even the creators of such systems know how neural networks make decisions. This is not surprising — the principles of how the human brain works also remain a mystery.
And like the brain, neural networks are incredibly flexible in use:
- Internet radio analyzes your tastes, compares them with those of other users, and offers music they already liked and you haven't come across yet.
- Electronic banking systems study users' usual behavior and find transactions that don't fit into templates — these are quite possibly the traces of fraudsters.
- In hospitals, robotic diagnosticians look for spots on X-rays that look like malignant tumors.
- The Prisma app memorizes different artistic styles to redraw your pictures “like Van Gogh” or in stained glass style.
And so on and so forth.
How a neural network is taught to think
For a neural network to work, it needs to be trained. A programmer who needs a system to recognize cats “feeds” it thousands of pictures — some have cats, others don't. The neural network passes them through itself and, in fact, finds a mathematical difference between the proposed examples. This difference actually turns out to be a cat.
Training uses several sets of files (test, training, control), formed from specially prepared data. The algorithms themselves also vary — Python developers can use ready-made modules or create their own. In some cases, the system is told where the cat is and where not. In others, she should figure it out for herself.
You need to understand that a computer still can't look at a picture and reason: “Well, a fluffy face, a mustache sticking out, eyes with a vertical student are like a cat.” The program divides the image into sections and remembers the peculiarities of pixel relationships. She then looks for similar patterns in other pictures. This mechanism allows you to trick the neural network by applying special noise from randomly scattered pixels to the image. A person will not see this interference, and to a computer they will look just like a picture that was painted on top of another.
If you want to work with neural networks, learn Python
The field of IT that deals with neural networks is called Data Science. These technologies have been developing for just a couple of decades, and the specialists who own them are now considered the main stars in the professional market. More, according to Yandex research, companies are willing to disassemble young data scientists with minimal experience to train them on site and grow them into experts.
In the coming years, the demand for such specialists will only grow — technologies are becoming more affordable. Therefore, for today's children, learning to program in Python may be the first step in a highly successful career.
