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It feels like we’ve been saying "this has been the year of artificial intelligence" for the last half a decade or so. But, as the decade reaches its conclusion, it’s undoubtedly the case that if you had to characterize the changes — social, commercial, political — the world has undergone over the last 10 years, the big data boom and artificial intelligence would be the key technology trends.  

The spotlight is generally on the ripple effects of these technologies; very rarely is it on the people and processes through which these technologies are built and deployed. That’s a shame because if we did we’d have a much greater sense of the opportunities open to us — whether that’s from a personal career perspective or a business one, we’d start to see that we’re still very far from mass adoption and usage. These are trends that remain in the hands of the largest companies with the most money to spend.  

Let’s try and change that in the next decade: let’s make artificial intelligence our issue, and our problem. To get you started — or to help you to take the next step — here’s a list of free machine learning and artificial eBooks made available by Packt Publishing.  

Download one or download all of them. Either way, simply get ready for the future for free. 

You may also like: Python Programming for Data Science and Machine Learning.

Python Machine Learning by Example  

If you want to get started with machine learning quickly, learning Python is perhaps the best place to start. Indeed, it’s no accident that the popularity of Python has grown alongside machine learning. It’s not necessarily clear which is driving which, but it’s impossible to properly disentangle the popularity of both.  

With Python Machine Learning by Example you’ll be able to see how Python can be used to build a range of different algorithms and machine learning systems. Covering a number of important concepts and techniques in machine learning, such as clustering, classification, feature extraction, and model performance evaluation, this book offers a hands-on introduction to doing machine learning with Python.  

Download  Python Machine Learning by Example for free . 

Mastering OpenCV 4 

Computer vision is one of the most interesting — and visible — uses of machine learning around today. From facial recognition to image classification, the importance of computer vision says a lot about the way we interact with software today from frictionless device access to the massive number of images generated every single day.  

OpenCV is one of the most widely used computer vision tools available. More of a library or toolkit than a single piece of software, it can be used for a diverse range of applications. Mastering OpenCV4 shows it off at its very best, demonstrating cutting edge techniques to get the most from the software. With the industry arguably approaching the frontiers of computer vision, this book will not only keep you in touch with those frontiers; it will also help you push the envelope and explore the full extent of what’s possible.  

Download the 3rd edition of Mastering OpenCV 4 for free. 

Hands-On Natural Language Processing With Python 

Along with computer vision, natural language processing is another important and extremely visible application of machine learning and artificial intelligence. From chatbots to sentiment analysis, NLP has been making a real impact on how many businesses both understand and interact with customers.  

With Hands-On Natural Language Processing with Python, you’ll learn how to get your hands dirty with NLP. Making use of Python and its exciting and extensive ecosystem of frameworks and tools that can make NLP easier, you’ll build several different real-world natural language projects including a simple chatbot. 

If you’re not sure where to start with natural language processing, this free machine learning eBook is a great place to start.  

Download it for free here. 

Artificial Intelligence for Big Data 

Big data is all well and good, but on its own, it’s pretty pointless: it’s only when you bring in an additional layer of intelligence — sometimes human, but often artificial — that it can be used to really make an impact.  

With Artificial Intelligence for Big Data, you’ll find out how these two trends work together for many different applications. This includes NLP, but it also covers topics, such as cybersecurity, and even more bleeding edge uses including swarm intelligence, reinforcement learning, and genetic programming.  

Using Java — an underrated but nevertheless powerful language for artificial intelligence and machine learning development — you’ll be learning skills that you can use to create some exceptionally advanced AI systems that use big data. 

Download Artificial Intelligence for Big Data for free. 

Big Data Analytics with Hadoop 3  

Hadoop has long been the platform that’s almost synonymous with big data. While other big data frameworks, such as Spark, have been catching up with it, it nevertheless remains a key tool in the big data landscape. With Hadoop 3 (released in March 2018), it has been brought up to date with new features and fixes, which means it stands up to today’s toughest big data processing challenges. 

Big Data Analytics with Hadoop 3 takes you through the changes to Hadoop 3, before examining the core components within the Hadoop ecosystem, such as YARN, HDFS, and MapReduce. With guidance on how you can use Hadoop for stream processing (with the help of Spark and Flink), as well as how to deploy and run Hadoop on the cloud, this book will help you to get a deep understanding of what’s needed to successfully architect a modern big data project. 

Download Big Data Analytics with Hadoop 3 for free. 

Splunk 7.x Quick Start Guide  

Splunk describes itself as "the data-to-everything platform." Built to help organizations and teams get maximum value from big data, it’s essentially a tool that allows users to do a combination of analytics and monitoring. At a time when real-time insight is particularly valuable yet often harder to uncover with increasingly larger sets of data, it’s not hard to see why Splunk’s position in the big data market is going from strength to strength.  

If Splunk is designed to help you generate insights quickly then it can only really deliver on that promise if you can get and running quickly too. That’s the purpose of Splunk 7.x Quick Start Guide — it’s a primer on how Splunk works, giving you the grounding, you need to start building dashboards and reports quickly.  

Download the eBook for free. 

 
Any of these eBooks could be a vital addition to your personal library. With artificial intelligence and big data becoming a crucial part of every organization’s technology and commercial strategy, engineers, analysts, and data scientists need to arm themselves with a pool of knowledge that exceeds their day-to-day work. 

Further Reading

• A Kafka Tutorial for Everyone, no Matter Your Stage in Development.
• Deep Learning for Computer Vision: A Beginner’s Guide.
• Artificial Intelligence: Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics.

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