Beyond Brainless AI with a Feature Store - KDnuggets
AI-powered products that are limited to the data available within its application are like jellyfish: its autonomic system makes it functional, but it lacks a brain. However, you can evolve your models with data enriched "brains" through the help of a feature store.
TLDR; Machine learning models are only as good as the data (features) they are trained on. In enterprises, data scientists can often train very effective models in the lab - when given a free hand on which data to use. However, many of those data sources are not available in production environments due to disconnected systems and data silos. An AI-powered product that is limited to the data available within its application silo cannot recall historical data about its users or relevant contextual data from external sources. It is like a jellyfish - its autonomic system makes it functional and useful, but it lacks a brain. You can, however, evolve your models from brain-free AI to Total Recall AI with the help of a Feature Store, a centralized platform that can provide models with low latency access to data spanning the whole enterprise.
Jellyfish are undoubtedly complex creatures with sophisticated behaviour - they move, mate, and munch. They eat and discard waste from the same opening. Yet, they have no brain - their autonomic system suffices for their needs. The biggest breakthroughs in AI in recent years have been enabled by deep learning, which requires large volumes of data and specialized compute hardware (e.g., GPUs). However, just like a jellyfish, recent successes in image processing and NLP with deep learning required no brain - no working memory, history, or context.
