A hands-on introduction to modern pattern recognition. We begin in medias res by training two intuitive classifiers (a perceptron and a kNN classifier) to recognize digits. To determine which one is better we must state what "better" means, so we introduce "generalization." To talk about generalization we need to build the probabilistic framework in which modern pattern recognition resides. From here the plan is clear: we imagine that probabilistic descriptions of data (that is, the knowledge) is given to us and derive optimal classifiers. We then move to supervised learning from training samples, linear classification and regression, feature design (especially the multiscale or spectral perspective which has seen great success for images, audio, text, ..., and which has beautiful connections to physics). We apply our probabilistic models to problems in image restoration—denoising, demosaicking, deblurring, as well as—time permitting—segmentation. We then eschew feature design in favor of deep neural networks. Finally, we pivot back to solid ground and ask: what good are probabilistic description of the world if we cannot generate samples from them? This leads us to consider sampling methods such as Markov chain Monte Carlo.
Schedule
| W | Topic | Additional material | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
T: Introduction: the ingredients (video 1, video 2) Recitation: A refresher on linear algebra and probability (ipynb) Lecture notes: Week 1 (to be updated)
|
Notebook: Chapter 1 [PPA] |
due - 26.09.24 |
| 2 |
T: Curse of dimensionality, perceptron (video; the microphone was off in the first ~30min; see last year's videos on the right) F: Perceptron, decision theory Lecture notes: Week 2 (to be updated) Recitation: Sample assignment hints & Gradescope help |
Chapter 2 in [PPA] Last year's lecture: |
due - 10.10.24 |
| 3 |
T: Decision theory, optimal classification Lecture notes: Week 3 (to be updated) Recitation: 1st assignment hints |
Chapter 2 in [PPA] Last year's lecture: |
|
| 4 |
T: ROC curves, linear regression (video 1, video 2) Lecture notes: Week 4 (to be updated) Recitation: Solve sample assignment |
Chapter 2 in [PPA] Last year's lecture: |
due - 24.10.24 |
| 5 |
T: geometric and probabilistic perspectives on linear regression + MNIST and one-hot encoding (video 1, video 2) Lecture notes: Week 5 (to be updated) Recitation: 2nd assignment hints
|
Chapter 7 in [MML] Last year's lecture: T: video 1, video 2 |
|
| 6 |
T: logistic regression, gradient descent (video 1, video 2) Recitation: Solve 1st assignment
Lecture notes: Week 6 (to be updated) |
Chapter 7 in [MML] Chapter 8 in [MML] Last year's lecture: T: video 1, video 2, video 3 Example questions for the midterm exam
|
due - 14.11.24 |
| 7 |
T: Towards good features: nonlinear filtering, edges (video 1, video 2) Recitation: 3rd assignment hints Lecture notes: Week 7 (to be updated) |
Discrete Fourier Transform (link) Chapter 3 in [FSP] Last year's lecture: |
|
| 8 |
T: Midterm exam (05.11.24) Recitation: 3rd assignment hints |
|
|
| 9 |
T: machine learning bootcamp part 1 (video 1, video 2) Recitation: Solve 2nd assignment |
due - 21.11.24 |
|
| 10 |
T: DFT, circular convolution, matrix formulations, diagonalization, ... (video) Recitation: 4th assignment hints |
release of Assignment 5 (21.11.24) due - 05.12.24 |
|
| 11 |
T: Recitation: 5th assignment hints |
|
|
| 12 |
T: nonlinear (deep) autoencoders Recitation: Solve 4th assignment |
release of Assignment 6 (05.12.24) due - 19.12.24 |
|
| 13 |
T: variational autoencoders Recitation: 6th assignment hints |
|
|
| 14 |
T: transformers Recitation: Solve 5th assignment |
Prerequisites
We will assume familiarity with basic probability and linear algebra. We will review the most important concepts along the way but these reviews cannot replace entire courses. All programming examples and assignments will be in Python.
Resources
The course materials will be posted to this gitlab repo. While we will provide the required notes and recordings, we will also recommend reading from textbooks and other sources that are freely available online.
[MML] Machine Learning: A Probabilistic Perspective (2012) by Kevin Murphy; see also newer books by the same author, available online.
[ESL] Elements of Statistical Learning by Hastie, Tibshirani, and Friedman: A legendary ML textbook. See also a shorter introductory text by the same authors, Introduction to Statistical Learning.
[PPA] Patterns, Predictions, and Actions: A graduate textbook by Moritz Hardt and Ben Recht, somewhat advanced for this course but great reading nonetheless if you like that sort of stuff and you're not seeing it for the first time.
[FPS] Foundations of Signal Processing: A signal processing textbook by Vetterli, Kovaˇcevi´c and Goyal.
[CVAA] Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications, 2nd Edition, by Richard Szeleski.
[ISL] An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in Python by James, Witten, Hastie, Tibshirani and Taylor.
Math Resources:
The course uses a lot of probability and linear algebra; hence to be comfortable with the basics, we provide links to supplementary materials. However, for a much more comprehensive set of resources, you can find them in Jonathan Shewchuk's 'Introduction to Machine Learning' course. For your convinience, we have included some of those links below:
- Probability theory and linear algebra review from Standford Machine learning course
- Mathematics for Machine Learning by Garrett Thomas
For discussions about the lectures and excercises you can use the Piazza forum. Please do not send e-mail unless you're asking a really personal question
Both coding and written assignments must be submitted through Gradescope.
Contact
Lecturer
Prof. Dr. Ivan Dokmanić: ivan.dokmanic[at]unibas.ch
Teaching assistants
Mark Starzynski: mark.starzynski[at]unibas.ch
Marko Janic: marko.janic[at]stud.unibas.ch
Alexandra Spitzer: alexandra.spitzer[at]unibas.ch
Vinith Kishore: vinith.kishore[at]unibas.ch
Class time and location
Lectures will be given in Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 118
Tuesday lecture takes place from 08.15 am to 10.00 am. Friday lecture takes place from 10.15 am to 12.00 pm.
Exercise sessions will take place on Monday, 2.15 pm - 4.00 pm in Biozentrum, Seminarraum 02.073 and Wednesday, 4.15 pm - 6.00pm in Spiegelgasse 5, Seminarraum 05.002.
Grade
| Homework assignment | 25% |
| Midterm exam | 30% |
| Final exam | 45% |
Exam dates
The midterm exam will take place on 05.11.24 during regular lecture hours.
The final exam will take place on 21.01.25, 14-16h.