ECE 6524 - Deep Learning (3C)

Advanced concepts in Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Models (multi-layer perceptrons, convolutional neural networks, recurrent neural networks, long short-term memory networks, memory networks), learning algorithms (backpropagation, stochastic sub-gradient descent, dropout), connections to structured predictions (Boltzmann machines, "unrolled" belief propagation), and applications to perception and Artificial Intelligence (AI)problems (image classification, detection, and segmentation; image captioning; visual question answering; automatic game playing).

Deep Learning is a branch of machine learning based on a set of algorithms and techniques that attempt to model high-level abstractions in data by using multiple processing layers. We are witnessing an explosion in data - from billions of images shared online to Petabytes of tweets, medical records and GPS tracks, generated by companies, users and scientific communities. Deep Learning is rapidly emerging as one of the most successful and widely applicable technique across a range of applications. Many universities are expanding programs in deep learning, and employers are hiring at a frenzied pace in this domain. Students trained in a principled understanding of deep machine learning techniques will be better equipped to make fundamental contributions to research in machine learning, and applied areas such as perception (vision, text, speech), robotics, bioinformatics, etc.