AI Project Cycle

1. if we have to develop an AI project, the AI Project Cycle

provides us with an appropriate framework which can
lead us towards the goal.
2. The AI Project Cycle mainly has 5 stages:
problem scoping , data acquisition , data exploration ,
modelling , evaluation
3. Starting with Problem Scoping, you set the goal for your
AI project by stating the problem which you wish to
solve with it.
4. Under problem scoping, we look at various parameters
which affect the problem we wish to solve so that the
picture becomes clearer.
5. You need to acquire data which will become the base of
your project as it will help you in understanding what
the parameters that are related to problem scoping are.
6. You go for data acquisition by collecting data from
various reliable and authentic sources. Since the data
you collect would be in large quantities, you can try to
give it a visual image of different types of
representations like graphs, databases, flow charts,
maps, etc.
7. This makes it easier for you to interpret the patterns
which your acquired data follows.
8. After exploring the patterns, you can decide upon the
type of model you would build to achieve the goal. For
this, you can research online and select various models
which give a suitable output.
9. You can test the selected models and figure out which is
the most efficient one. The most efficient model is now
the base of your AI project and you can develop your
algorithm around it.
10. Once the modelling is complete, you now need to
test your model on some newly fetched data.
11. The results will help you in evaluating your model
and improving it.
12. Finally, after evaluation, the project cycle is now
complete and what you get is your AI project.
13. Problem Scoping - It is a fact that we are
surrounded by problems. They could be small or big,
sometimes ignored or sometimes even critical.
14. Many times, we become so used to a problem that
it becomes a part of our life. Identifying such a problem
and having a vision to solve it, is what Problem Scoping
is about.
15. A lot of times we are unable to observe any
problem in our surroundings. In that case, we can take a
look at the Sustainable Development Goals.
16. 17 goals have been announced by the United
nations which are termed as the Sustainable
Development Goals. The aim is to achieve these goals by
the end of 2030. A pledge to do so has been taken by all
the member nations of the UN.
17. One should look for such problems and try to solve
them as this would make many lives better and help our
country achieve these goals.
18. Scoping a problem is not that easy as we need to
have a deeper understanding around it so that the
picture becomes clearer while we are working to solve
it.
19. Hence, we use the 4Ws Problem Canvas to help us .
20. 4Ws Problem Canvas : who , what , where , why
21. Who? The “Who” block helps in analysing the
people getting affected directly or indirectly due to it.
Under this, we find out who the ‘Stakeholders’ to this
problem are and what we know about them.
Stakeholders are the people who face this problem and
would be benefitted with the solution.
22. Under the “What” block, you need to look into
what you have on hand.
At this stage, you need to determine the nature of the
problem. What is the problem and how do you know
that it is a problem? Under this block, you also gather
evidence to prove that the problem you have selected
actually exists.
23. Newspaper articles, Media, announcements, etc
are some examples.
24. Where ? Now that you know who is associated with
the problem and what the problem actually is; you need
to focus on the context/situation/location of the
problem.
25. This block will help you look into the situation in
which the problem arises, the context of it, and the
locations where it is prominent.
26. Why? You have finally listed down all the major
elements that affect the problem directly.
27. Now it is convenient to understand who the people
that would be benefitted by the solution are; what is to
be solved; and where will the solution be deployed.
28. These three canvases now become the base of why
you want to solve this problem. Thus, in the “Why”
canvas, think about the benefits which the stakeholders
would get from the solution and how it will benefit them
as well as the society.
29. After filling the 4Ws Problem canvas, you now need
to summarise all the cards into one template.
30. The Problem Statement Template helps us to
summarise all the key points into one single Template so
that in future, whenever there is need to look back at
the basis of the problem, we can take a look at the
Problem Statement Template and understand the key
elements of it.
31. Data Acquisition : As we move ahead in the AI
Project Cycle, we come across the second element.
32. As the term clearly mentions, this stage is about
acquiring data for the project.
33. Data can be a piece of information or facts and
statistics collected together for reference or analysis.
34. Whenever we want an AI project to be able to
predict an output, we need to train it first using data.
35. For example, If you want to make an Artificially
Intelligent system which can predict the salary of any
 employee based on his previous salaries, you would feed
the data of his previous salaries into the machine.
36. This is the data with which the machine can be
trained. Now, once it is ready, it will predict his next
salary efficiently.
37. The previous salary data here is known as Training
Data while the next salary prediction data set is known
as the Testing Data.
38. For better efficiency of an AI project, the Training
data needs to be relevant and authentic.
39. In the previous example, if the training data was
not of the previous salaries but of his expenses, the
machine would not have predicted his next salary
correctly since the whole training went wrong.
40. Similarly, if the previous salary data was not
authentic, that is, it was not correct, then too the
prediction could have gone wrong.
41. Hence…. For any AI project to be efficient, the
training data should be authentic and relevant to the
problem statement scoped.
42. Data Features : Look at your problem statement
once again and try to find the data features required to
address this issue. Data features refer to the type of data
you want to collect.
43. In our previous example, data features would be
salary amount, increment percentage, increment period,
bonus, etc.
44. After mentioning the Data features, you get to
know what sort of data is to be collected. There can be
various ways in which you can collect data.
45. Surveys , camera , web scrapping , censor ,
observation , api (application program interface) are
some ways of collecting data
46. Sometimes, you use the internet and try to acquire
data for your project from some random websites.
Such data might not be authentic as its accuracy cannot
be proved.
47. Due to this, it becomes necessary to find a reliable
source of data from where some authentic information
can be taken.
48. At the same time, we should keep in mind that the
data which we collect is open-sourced and not
someone’s property.
49. Extracting private data can be an offence. One of
the most reliable and authentic sources of information,
are the open-sourced websites hosted by the
government. These government portals have general
information collected in suitable format which can be
downloaded and used wisely.
50. Data Exploration : In the previous modules, you
have set the goal of your project and have also found
ways to acquire data. While acquiring data, you must
have noticed that the data is a complex entity – it is full
of numbers and if anyone wants to make some sense
out of it, they have to work some patterns out of it.
51. For example, if you go to the library and pick up a
random book, you first try to go through its content
quickly by turning pages and by reading the description
before borrowing it for yourself, because it helps you in
understanding if the book is appropriate to your needs
and interests or not.
52. Thus, to analyse the data, you need to visualise it in
some user-friendly format so that you can Quickly get a
sense of the trends, relationships and patterns
contained within the data. Define strategy for which
model to use at a later stage and Communicate the
same to others effectively. To visualise data, we can use
various types of visual representations.
53. Modelling : In the previous module of Data
exploration, we have seen various types of graphical
representations which can be used for representing
different parameters of data.
54. The graphical representation makes the data
understandable for humans as we can discover trends
and patterns out of it. But when it comes to machines
accessing and analysing data, it needs the data in the
most basic form of numbers (which is binary – 0s and 1s)
55. when it comes to discovering patterns and trends
in data, the machine goes in for mathematical
representations of the same.
56. The ability to mathematically describe the
relationship between parameters is the heart of every AI
model. Thus, whenever we talk about developing AI
 models, it is the mathematical approach towards
analysing data which we refer to.
57. Generally, AI models can be classified as follows:
1) Rule Based Approach
58. Refers to the AI modelling where the rules are
defined by the developer. The machine follows the rules
or instructions mentioned by the developer and
performs its task accordingly.
59. For example, we have a dataset which tells us about
the conditions on the basis of which we can decide if an
elephant may be spotted or not while on safari.
The parameters are: Outlook, Temperature, Humidity and
Wind.
Now, let’s take various possibilities of these parameters
and see in which case the elephant may be spotted and
in which case it may not.
60. After looking through all the cases, we feed this
data in to the machine along with the rules which tell
the machine all the possibilities.
61. The machine trains on this data and now is ready to
be tested. While testing the machine, we tell the
machine that Outlook = Overcast; Temperature =
Normal; Humidity = Normal and Wind = Weak.
62. On the basis of this testing dataset, now the
machine will be able to tell if the elephant has been
spotted before or not and will display the prediction to
us. This is known as a rule-based approach because we
fed the data along with rules to the machine and the
 machine after getting trained on them is now able to
predict answers for the same.
63. A drawback/feature for this approach is that the
learning is static.
64. The machine once trained, does not take into
consideration any changes made in the original training
dataset.
65. That is, if you try testing the machine on a dataset
which is different from the rules and data you fed it at
the training stage, the machine will fail and will not learn
from its mistake.
66. Once trained, the model cannot improvise itself on
the basis of feedbacks.
67. Thus, machine learning gets introduced as an
extension to this as in that case, the machine adapts to
change in data and rules and follows the updated path
only, while a rule-based model does what it has been
taught once
2) Learning Based Approach
68. Refers to the AI modelling where the machine
learns by itself. Under the Learning Based approach, the
AI model gets trained on the data fed to it and then is
able to design a model which is adaptive to the change
in data.
69. That is, if the model is trained with X type of data
and the machine designs the algorithm around it, the
model would modify itself according to the changes
which occur in the data so that all the exceptions are
handled in this case.
70. For example, suppose you have a dataset
comprising of 100 images of apples and bananas each.
These images depict apples and bananas in various
shapes and sizes.
71. These images are then labelled as either apple or
banana so that all apple images are labelled ‘apple’ and
all the banana images have ‘banana’ as their label.
72. Now, the AI model is trained with this dataset and
the model is programmed in such a way that it can
distinguish between an apple image and a banana image
according to their features and can predict the label of
any image which is fed to it as an apple or a banana.
73. After training, the machine is now fed with testing
data. Now, the testing data might not have similar
images as the ones on which the model has been
trained.
74. So, the model adapts to the features on which it
has been trained and accordingly predicts if the image is
of an apple or banana.
75. In this way, the machine learns by itself by
adapting to the new data which is flowing in. This is the
machine learning approach which introduces the
dynamicity in the model.
76. Can be categorized in three sub parts :
A) Supervised Learning
In a supervised learning model, the dataset which is
fed to the machine is labelled. In other words, we can
say that the dataset is known to the person who is
training the machine only then he/she is able to label
the data. A label is some information which can be
used as a tag for data.
For example, students get grades according to the
marks they secure in examinations. These grades are
labels which categorise the students according to
their marks.
~ There are two types of Supervised Learning models:
# Classification: Where the data is classified according
to the labels.
For example, in the grading system, students are
classified on the basis of the grades they obtain with
respect to their marks in the examination.
This model works on discrete dataset which means
the data need not be continuous.
# Regression: Such models work on continuous data.
For example, if you wish to predict your next salary,
then you would put in the data of your previous
salary, any increments, etc., and would train the
model.
Here, the data which has been fed to the machine is
continuous.
b) Unsupervised Learning : An unsupervised learning
model works on unlabelled dataset.
This means that the data which is fed to the machine
is random and there is a possibility that the person
who is training the model does not have any
information regarding it.
The unsupervised learning models are used to identify
relationships, patterns and trends out of the data
which is fed into it.
It helps the user in understanding what the data is
about and what are the major features identified by
the machine in it.
For example, you have a random data of 1000 dog
images and you wish to understand some pattern out
of it, you would feed this data into the unsupervised
learning model and would train the machine on it.
After training, the machine would come up with
patterns which it was able to identify out of it.
The Machine might come up with patterns which are
already known to the user like colour or it might even
come up with something very unusual like the size of
the dogs.
~ Unsupervised learning models can be further
divided into two categories:
# Clustering: Refers to the unsupervised learning
algorithm which can cluster the unknown data
according to the patterns or trends identified out of it.
The patterns observed might be the ones which are
known to the developer or it might even come up
with some unique patterns out of it.
# Dimensionality Reduction: We humans are able to
visualise upto 3-Dimensions only but according to a
lot of theories and algorithms, there are various
entities which exist beyond 3-Dimensions.
 For example, in Natural language Processing, the
words are considered to be N-Dimensional entities.
Which means that we cannot visualise them as they
exist beyond our visualisation ability.
Hence, to make sense out of it, we need to reduce
their dimensions.
Here, dimensionality reduction algorithm is used.
As we reduce the dimension of an entity, the
information which it contains starts getting distorted.
For example, if we have a ball in our hand, it is 3-
Dimensions right now. But if we click its picture, the
data transforms to 2-D as an image is a 2-Dimensional
entity.
Now, as soon as we reduce one dimension, at least
50% of the information is lost as now we will not
know about the back of the ball.
Whether the ball was of same colour at the back or
not? Or was it just a hemisphere?
If we reduce the dimensions further, more and more
information will get lost.
Hence, to reduce the dimensions and still be able to
make sense out of the data, we use Dimensionality
Reduction.
77. Evaluation : Once a model has been made and
trained, it needs to go through proper testing so that
one can calculate the efficiency and performance of the
model.
Hence, the model is tested with the help of Testing Data
(which was separated out of the acquired dataset at
 Data Acquisition stage) and the efficiency of the model is
calculated on the basis of the parameters mentioned
below:
 Accuracy , precision , recall , f1 score
78. Neural Networks : Neural networks are loosely
modelled after how neurons in the human brain behave.
79. The key advantage of neural networks are that they
are able to extract data features automatically without
needing the input of the programmer.
80. A neural network is essentially a system of
organizing machine learning algorithms to perform
certain tasks.
81. It is a fast and efficient way to solve problems for
which the dataset is very large, such as in images.
82. the larger Neural Networks tend to perform better
with larger amounts of data whereas the traditional
machine learning algorithms stop improving after a
certain saturation point.
83. A Neural Network is divided into multiple layers and
each layer is further divided into several blocks called
nodes. Each node has its own task to accomplish which
is then passed to the next layer.
84. The first layer of a Neural Network is known as the
input layer. The job of an input layer is to acquire data
and feed it to the Neural Network. No processing occurs
at the input layer.
85. Next to it, are the hidden layers. Hidden layers are
the layers in which the whole processing occurs. Their
name essentially means that these layers are hidden and
 are not visible to the user. Each node of these hidden
layers has its own machine learning algorithm which it
executes on the data received from the input layer.
86. The processed output is then fed to the subsequent
hidden layer of the network.
87. There can be multiple hidden layers in a neural
network system and their number depends upon the
complexity of the function for which the network has
been configured.
88. Also, the number of nodes in each layer can vary
accordingly. The last hidden layer passes the final
processed data to the output layer which then gives it to
the user as the final output.
89. Similar to the input layer, output layer too does not
process the data which it acquires. It is meant for user-
interface.
90. Features of neural network :
 Neural network system are modelled on the human
brain and nervous system .
 They are able to automatically extract features
without input from the programmer
 Every neural network node is essentially a machine
learning algorithm .
 It is useful when solving problems for which the data
set is very large .