Patterns. The world is full of them, and we often don’t even notice. Human language is a great example. We understand each other because things like verb conjugations and word order typically follow a rigid structure. The same is also true for music, where the predictability of rhythm and scales provide a measure of order and predictability. If computers can identify and model these patterns, they can make predictions. That, in essence, is the nature of machine learning (ML). These predictions can be used to mimic the fundamental elements of what makes a person human, like the ability to write creatively and articulate ideas, as with chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard. With enough real-world examples (high-quality training data), they can — in the case of a self-driving car — identify the elements leading up to a potential collision, allowing the vehicle to avert disaster. Or, in the case of.