Machine learning has burst onto the scene in the past two decades and will be a defining technology of the future. It is transforming large sectors of society, including healthcare, education, transport, and food and industrial production, as well as having an enormous impact on science and research.

A subset of artificial intelligence, machine learning is a process that helps computers to learn without direct instruction, and from experience. It does this by using algorithms to identify patterns within data, which are then used to create models that can make predictions. And data is the key. Machine learning, and the spiraling availability of vast amounts of data, promises to revolutionize the production of knowledge. Indeed, today's exponential and virtuous cycle of growth in deep learning, among other technologies, has been compared to the Cambrian Explosion of half a billion years ago when life on Earth experienced a short period of very rapid diversification.

Professor James Larus, Dean of EPFL's School of Computer and Communications Sciences (IC), agrees that machine learning and AI will have a profound impact on how we live and we have yet to see anywhere near its full potential.

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