What to Expect from Automated Machine Learning: Zooming in on Technical Aspects and Zooming Out to the Bigger Picture
Introduction
The blog post discusses the performance of Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) tools that aim to automate the tasks of applying machine learning to real-world problems without expert knowledge. The blog argues that the tools available today do not deliver upon these promises and uses two different approaches to answer the question "What can you expect from Automated Machine Learning?" The first approach is zooming in on the technical aspects of AutoML, and the second approach is zooming out to show the bigger picture. The technical aspects show that there is no consensus on the exact components that should be automated, and different AutoML tools offer a wide variety of features. The bigger picture shows that AutoML is just a single step in a bigger problem-solving story. Without expertise, humans in this story risk making mistakes at the interfaces. Therefore, AutoML users need at least some expert knowledge to work with AutoML effectively.