19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Search... Sign In
Machine Learning Algorithms EDA Math for Machine Learning Machine Learning Interview Questions
Types of Machine Learning
Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025
Machine learning is the branch of Artificial Intelligence that focuses on
developing models and algorithms that let computers learn from data
and improve from previous experience without being explicitly
programmed for every task.In simple words, ML teaches the systems
to think and understand like humans by learning from the data.
In this article, we will explore the various types of machine learning
algorithms that are important for future requirements. Machine
learning is generally a training system to learn from past experiences
and improve performance over time. Machine learning helps to predict
massive amounts of data. It helps to deliver fast and accurate results
to get profitable opportunities.
Types of Machine Learning
There are several types of machine learning, each with special
characteristics and applications. Some of the main types of machine
learning algorithms are as follows:
1. Supervised Machine Learning
2. Unsupervised Machine Learning
3. Reinforcement Learning
Additionally, there is a more specific category called semi-supervised
learning, which combines elements of both supervised and
unsupervised learning.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 1/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Types of Machine Learning
1. Supervised Machine Learning
Supervised learning is defined as when a model gets trained on a
"Labelled Dataset". Labelled datasets have both input and output
parameters. In Supervised Learning algorithms learn to map points
between inputs and correct outputs. It has both training and validation
datasets labelled.
Supervised Learning
Let's understand it with the help of an example.
Example: Consider a scenario where you have to build an image
classifier to differentiate between cats and dogs. If you feed the
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 2/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
datasets of dogs and cats labelled images to the algorithm, the
machine will learn to classify between a dog or a cat from these
labeled images. When we input new dog or cat images that it has
never seen before, it will use the learned algorithms and predict
whether it is a dog or a cat. This is how supervised learning works,
and this is particularly an image classification.
There are two main categories of supervised learning that are
mentioned below:
Classification
Regression
Classification
Classificationdeals with predicting categorical target variables, which
represent discrete classes or labels. For instance, classifying emails as
spam or not spam, or predicting whether a patient has a high risk of
heart disease. Classification algorithms learn to map the input features
to one of the predefined classes.
Here are some classification algorithms:
Logistic Regression
Support Vector Machine
Random Forest
Decision Tree
K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN)
Naive Bayes
Regression
Regression, on the other hand, deals with predicting continuous
target variables, which represent numerical values. For example,
predicting the price of a house based on its size, location, and
amenities, or forecasting the sales of a product. Regression algorithms
learn to map the input features to a continuous numerical value.
Here are some regression algorithms:
Linear Regression
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 3/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Polynomial Regression
Ridge Regression
Lasso Regression
Decision tree
Random Forest
Advantages of Supervised Machine Learning
Supervised Learning models can have high accuracy as they are
trained on labelled data.
The process of decision-making in supervised learning models is
often interpretable.
It can often be used in pre-trained models which saves time and
resources when developing new models from scratch.
Disadvantages of Supervised Machine Learning
It has limitations in knowing patterns and may struggle with unseen
or unexpected patterns that are not present in the training data.
It can be time-consuming and costly as it relies on labeled data
only.
It may lead to poor generalizations based on new data.
Applications of Supervised Learning
Supervised learning is used in a wide variety of applications, including:
Image classification: Identify objects, faces, and other features in
images.
Natural language processing: Extract information from text, such
as sentiment, entities, and relationships.
Speech recognition: Convert spoken language into text.
Recommendation systems: Make personalized recommendations to
users.
Predictive analytics: Predict outcomes, such as sales, customer
churn, and stock prices.
Medical diagnosis: Detect diseases and other medical conditions.
Fraud detection: Identify fraudulent transactions.
Autonomous vehicles: Recognize and respond to objects in the
environment.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 4/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Email spam detection: Classify emails as spam or not spam.
Quality control in manufacturing: Inspect products for defects.
Credit scoring: Assess the risk of a borrower defaulting on a loan.
Gaming: Recognize characters, analyze player behavior, and create
NPCs.
Customer support: Automate customer support tasks.
Weather forecasting: Make predictions for temperature,
precipitation, and other meteorological parameters.
Sports analytics: Analyze player performance, make game
predictions, and optimize strategies.
2. Unsupervised Machine Learning
Unsupervised Learning Unsupervised learning is a type of machine
learning technique in which an algorithm discovers patterns and
relationships using unlabeled data. Unlike supervised learning,
unsupervised learning doesn't involve providing the algorithm with
labeled target outputs. The primary goal of Unsupervised learning is
often to discover hidden patterns, similarities, or clusters within the
data, which can then be used for various purposes, such as data
exploration, visualization, dimensionality reduction, and more.
Unsupervised Learning
Let's understand it with the help of an example.
Example: Consider that you have a dataset that contains information
about the purchases you made from the shop. Through clustering, the
algorithm can group the same purchasing behavior among you and
other customers, which reveals potential customers without
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 5/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
predefined labels. This type of information can help businesses get
target customers as well as identify outliers.
There are two main categories of unsupervised learning that are
mentioned below:
Clustering
Association
Clustering
Clustering is the process of grouping data points into clusters based
on their similarity. This technique is useful for identifying patterns and
relationships in data without the need for labeled examples.
Here are some clustering algorithms:
K-Means Clustering algorithm
Mean-shift algorithm
DBSCAN Algorithm
Principal Component Analysis
Independent Component Analysis
Association
Association rule learning is a technique for discovering relationships
between items in a dataset. It identifies rules that indicate the
presence of one item implies the presence of another item with a
specific probability.
Here are some association rule learning algorithms:
Apriori Algorithm
Eclat
FP-growth Algorithm
Advantages of Unsupervised Machine Learning
It helps to discover hidden patterns and various relationships
between the data.
Used for tasks such as customer segmentation, anomaly
detection, and data exploration.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 6/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
It does not require labeled data and reduces the effort of data
labeling.
Disadvantages of Unsupervised Machine Learning
Without using labels, it may be difficult to predict the quality of the
model's output.
Cluster Interpretability may not be clear and may not have
meaningful interpretations.
It has techniques such as autoencoders and dimensionality
reduction that can be used to extract meaningful features from raw
data.
Applications of Unsupervised Learning
Here are some common applications of unsupervised learning:
Clustering: Group similar data points into clusters.
Anomaly detection: Identify outliers or anomalies in data.
Dimensionality reduction: Reduce the dimensionality of data while
preserving its essential information.
Recommendation systems: Suggest products, movies, or content to
users based on their historical behavior or preferences.
Topic modeling: Discover latent topics within a collection of
documents.
Density estimation: Estimate the probability density function of
data.
Image and video compression: Reduce the amount of storage
required for multimedia content.
Data preprocessing: Help with data preprocessing tasks such as
data cleaning, imputation of missing values, and data scaling.
Market basket analysis: Discover associations between products.
Genomic data analysis: Identify patterns or group genes with
similar expression profiles.
Image segmentation: Segment images into meaningful regions.
Community detection in social networks: Identify communities or
groups of individuals with similar interests or connections.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 7/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Customer behavior analysis: Uncover patterns and insights for
better marketing and product recommendations.
Content recommendation: Classify and tag content to make it
easier to recommend similar items to users.
Exploratory data analysis (EDA): Explore data and gain insights
before defining specific tasks.
3. Reinforcement Machine Learning
Reinforcement machine learningalgorithm is a learning method that
interacts with the environment by producing actions and discovering
errors. Trial, error, and delay are the most relevant characteristics of
reinforcement learning. In this technique, the model keeps on
increasing its performance using Reward Feedback to learn the
behavior or pattern. These algorithms are specific to a particular
problem e.g. Google Self Driving car, AlphaGo where a bot competes
with humans and even itself to get better and better performers in Go
Game. Each time we feed in data, they learn and add the data to their
knowledge which is training data. So, the more it learns the better it
gets trained and hence experienced.
Here are some of most common reinforcement learning algorithms:
Q-learning: Q-learning is a model-free RL algorithm that learns a
Q-function, which maps states to actions. The Q-function estimates
the expected reward of taking a particular action in a given state.
SARSA (State-Action-Reward-State-Action): SARSA is another
model-free RL algorithm that learns a Q-function. However, unlike
Q-learning, SARSA updates the Q-function for the action that was
actually taken, rather than the optimal action.
Deep Q-learning: Deep Q-learning is a combination of Q-learning
and deep learning. Deep Q-learning uses a neural network to
represent the Q-function, which allows it to learn complex
relationships between states and actions.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 8/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Reinforcement Machine Learning
Let's understand it with the help of examples.
Example: Consider that you are training an AI agent to play a game
like chess. The agent explores different moves and receives positive or
negative feedback based on the outcome. Reinforcement Learning also
finds applications in which they learn to perform tasks by interacting
with their surroundings.
Types of Reinforcement Machine Learning
There are two main types of reinforcement learning:
Positive reinforcement
Rewards the agent for taking a desired action.
Encourages the agent to repeat the behavior.
Examples: Giving a treat to a dog for sitting, providing a point in a
game for a correct answer.
Negative reinforcement
Removes an undesirable stimulus to encourage a desired behavior.
Discourages the agent from repeating the behavior.
Examples: Turning off a loud buzzer when a lever is
pressed, avoiding a penalty by completing a task.
Advantages of Reinforcement Machine Learning
It has autonomous decision-making that is well-suited for tasks and
that can learn to make a sequence of decisions, like robotics and
game-playing.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 9/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
This technique is preferred to achieve long-term results that are
very difficult to achieve.
It is used to solve a complex problems that cannot be solved by
conventional techniques.
Disadvantages of Reinforcement Machine Learning
Training Reinforcement Learning agents can be computationally
expensive and time-consuming.
Reinforcement learning is not preferable to solving simple
problems.
It needs a lot of data and a lot of computation, which makes it
impractical and costly.
Applications of Reinforcement Machine Learning
Here are some applications of reinforcement learning:
Game Playing: RL can teach agents to play games, even complex
ones.
Robotics: RL can teach robots to perform tasks autonomously.
Autonomous Vehicles: RL can help self-driving cars navigate and
make decisions.
Recommendation Systems: RL can enhance recommendation
algorithms by learning user preferences.
Healthcare: RL can be used to optimize treatment plans and drug
discovery.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): RL can be used in dialogue
systems and chatbots.
Finance and Trading: RL can be used for algorithmic trading.
Supply Chain and Inventory Management: RL can be used to
optimize supply chain operations.
Energy Management: RL can be used to optimize energy
consumption.
Game AI: RL can be used to create more intelligent and adaptive
NPCs in video games.
Adaptive Personal Assistants: RL can be used to improve personal
assistants.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 10/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): RL can be used
to create immersive and interactive experiences.
Industrial Control: RL can be used to optimize industrial processes.
Education: RL can be used to create adaptive learning systems.
Agriculture: RL can be used to optimize agricultural operations.
Semi-Supervised Learning: Supervised + Unsupervised
Learning
Semi-Supervised learningis a machine learning algorithm that works
between the supervised and unsupervised learning so it uses both
labelled and unlabelled data. It's particularly useful when obtaining
labeled data is costly, time-consuming, or resource-intensive. This
approach is useful when the dataset is expensive and time-consuming.
Semi-supervised learning is chosen when labeled data requires skills
and relevant resources in order to train or learn from it.
We use these techniques when we are dealing with data that is a little
bit labeled and the rest large portion of it is unlabeled. We can use the
unsupervised techniques to predict labels and then feed these labels
to supervised techniques. This technique is mostly applicable in the
case of image data sets where usually all images are not labeled.
Semi-Supervised Learning
Let's understand it with the help of an example.
Example: Consider that we are building a language translation model,
having labeled translations for every sentence pair can be resources
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 11/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
intensive. It allows the models to learn from labeled and unlabeled
sentence pairs, making them more accurate. This technique has led to
significant improvements in the quality of machine translation services.
Types of Semi-Supervised Learning Methods
There are a number of different semi-supervised learning methods
each with its own characteristics. Some of the most common ones
include:
Graph-based semi-supervised learning: This approach uses a
graph to represent the relationships between the data points. The
graph is then used to propagate labels from the labeled data points
to the unlabeled data points.
Label propagation: This approach iteratively propagates labels
from the labeled data points to the unlabeled data points, based on
the similarities between the data points.
Co-training: This approach trains two different machine learning
models on different subsets of the unlabeled data. The two models
are then used to label each other's predictions.
Self-training: This approach trains a machine learning model on the
labeled data and then uses the model to predict labels for the
unlabeled data. The model is then retrained on the labeled data
and the predicted labels for the unlabeled data.
Generative adversarial networks (GANs): GANs are a type of deep
learning algorithm that can be used to generate synthetic
data. GANs can be used to generate unlabeled data for semi-
supervised learning by training two neural networks, a generator
and a discriminator.
Advantages of Semi- Supervised Machine Learning
It leads to better generalization as compared to supervised
learning, as it takes both labeled and unlabeled data.
Can be applied to a wide range of data.
Disadvantages of Semi- Supervised Machine Learning
Semi-supervised methods can be more complex to implement
compared to other approaches.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 12/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
It still requires some labeled data that might not always be
available or easy to obtain.
The unlabeled data can impact the model performance accordingly.
Applications of Semi-Supervised Learning
Here are some common applications of semi-supervised learning:
Image Classification and Object Recognition: Improve the accuracy
of models by combining a small set of labeled images with a larger
set of unlabeled images.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): Enhance the performance of
language models and classifiers by combining a small set of
labeled text data with a vast amount of unlabeled text.
Speech Recognition: Improve the accuracy of speech recognition by
leveraging a limited amount of transcribed speech data and a more
extensive set of unlabeled audio.
Recommendation Systems: Improve the accuracy of personalized
recommendations by supplementing a sparse set of user-item
interactions (labeled data) with a wealth of unlabeled user behavior
data.
Healthcare and Medical Imaging: Enhance medical image analysis
by utilizing a small set of labeled medical images alongside a larger
set of unlabeled images.
Must check, our detailed article on: Machine Learning
Algorithms
Conclusion
In conclusion, each type of machine learning serves its own purpose
and contributes to the overall role in development of enhanced data
prediction capabilities, and it has the potential to change various
industries like Data Science. It helps deal with massive data
production and management of the datasets.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 13/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Comment A anush… Follow 47
Article Tags : Machine Learning AI-ML-DS
Corporate & Communications Address:
A-143, 7th Floor, Sovereign Corporate
Tower, Sector- 136, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
(201305)
Registered Address:
K 061, Tower K, Gulshan Vivante
Apartment, Sector 137, Noida, Gautam
Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, 201305
Company Explore
About Us POTD
Legal Job-A-Thon
Privacy Policy Connect
Careers Blogs
Contact Us Nation Skill Up
Corporate Solution
Campus Training Program
Tutorials Courses
Programming Languages IBM Certification
DSA DSA and Placements
Web Technology Web Development
AI, ML & Data Science Data Science
DevOps Programming Languages
CS Core Subjects DevOps & Cloud
GATE GATE
School Subjects Trending Technologies
Software and Tools
Offline Centers Preparation Corner
Noida Interview Corner
Bengaluru Aptitude
Pune Puzzles
Hyderabad GfG 160
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 14/15
19/10/2025, 15:22 Types of Machine Learning - GeeksforGeeks
Patna System Design
@GeeksforGeeks, Sanchhaya Education Private Limited, All rights reserved
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/machine-learning/types-of-machine-learning/ 15/15
