A high quality and large scale training data-set is an important guarantee to teach an ideal classifier for image classification. Manually constructing a training data- set  with  appropriate  labels  is  an  expensive  and  time  consuming  task.    Active learning techniques have been used to improved the existing models by reducing the  number  of  required  annotations.    The  present  work  aims  to  investigate the  way  to  build  a  model  for  identifying  and  utilizing  potential  informative and  representativeness  unlabeled  samples.    To  this  end,  two  approaches  for deep image classification using active learning are proposed, implemented and evaluated.  The two versions of active leaning for deep image classification differ in  the  input  space  exploration  so  as  to  investigate  how  classifier  performance varies  when  automatic  labelization  on  the  high  confidence  unlabeled  samples is  performed.    Active  learning  heuristics  based  on  uncertainty  measurements on low confidence predicted samples,  a pseudo-labelization technique to boost active  learning  by  reducing  the  number  of  human  interactions  and  knowledge transferring  form  pre-trained  models,  are  proposed  and  combined  into  our methodology.  The experimental results on two benchmark image classification data-sets  verify  the  effectiveness  of  the  proposed  methodology.    In  addition, a  new  pool-based  active  learning  query  strategy  is  proposed.     Dealing  with retraining-based algorithms we define a ”forgetting event” to have occurred when an  individual  training  example  transitions  the  maximum  predicted  probability class over the course of retraining. We integrated the new approach with the semi- supervised learning method in order to tackle the above challenges and observedgood performance against existing methods. / En  högkvalitativ  och  storskalig  träningsdataset  är  en  viktig  garanti  för  att  bli en  idealisk  klassificerare  för  bildklassificering.     Att  manuellt  konstruera  en träningsdatasats  med  lämpliga  etiketter  är  en  dyr  och  tidskrävande  uppgift. Aktiv  inlärningstekniker  har  använts  för  att  förbättra  de  befintliga  modellerna genom att minska antalet nödvändiga annoteringar. Det nuvarande arbetet syftar till  att  undersöka  sättet  att  bygga  en  modell  för  att  identifiera  och  använda potentiella informativa och representativa omärkta prover.   För detta ändamål föreslås, genomförs och genomförs två metoder för djup bildklassificering med aktivt  lärande  utvärderas.      De  två  versionerna  av  aktivt  lärande  för  djup bildklassificering  skiljer  sig  åt  i  undersökningen  av  ingångsutrymmet  för  att undersöka hur klassificeringsprestanda varierar när automatisk märkning på de omärkta  proverna  med  hög  konfidens  utförs.   Aktiv  lärande  heuristik  baserad på  osäkerhetsmätningar  på  förutsagda  prover  med  låg  konfidens,  en  pseudo- märkningsteknik för att öka aktivt lärande genom att minska antalet mänskliga interaktioner  och  kunskapsöverföring  av  förutbildade  modeller,  föreslås  och kombineras   i   vår   metod.      Experimentella   resultat   på   två   riktmärken   för bildklassificering datauppsättningar verifierar effektiviteten hos den föreslagna metodiken.   Dessutom föreslås en ny poolbaserad aktiv inlärningsfrågestrategi. När  vi  använder  omskolningsbaserade  algoritmer  definierar  vi  en  ”glömmer händelse” som skulle ha inträffat när ett individuellt träningsexempel överskrider den maximala förutsagda sannolikhetsklassen under omskolningsprocessen.  Vi integrerade den nya metoden med den semi-övervakad inlärning för att hanteraovanstående utmaningar och observeras bra prestanda mot befintliga metoder.

[ES] Las imágenes de fondo de ojo son muy utilizadas por los oftalmólogos para la evaluación de la retina y la detección de glaucoma. Esta patología es la segunda causa de ceguera en el mundo, según estudios de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS). En esta tesis doctoral, se estudian algoritmos de aprendizaje automático (machine learning) para la evaluación automática del glaucoma usando imágenes de fondo de ojo. En primer lugar, se proponen dos métodos para la segmentación automática. El primer método utiliza la transformación Watershed Estocástica para segmentar la copa óptica y posteriormente medir características clínicas como la relación Copa/Disco y la regla ISNT. El segundo método es una arquitectura U-Net que se usa específicamente para la segmentación del disco óptico y la copa óptica. A continuación, se presentan sistemas automáticos de evaluación del glaucoma basados en redes neuronales convolucionales (CNN por sus siglas en inglés). En este enfoque se utilizan diferentes modelos entrenados en ImageNet como clasificadores automáticos de glaucoma, usando fine-tuning. Esta nueva técnica permite detectar el glaucoma sin segmentación previa o extracción de características. Además, este enfoque presenta una mejora considerable del rendimiento comparado con otros trabajos del estado del arte. En tercer lugar, dada la dificultad de obtener grandes cantidades de imágenes etiquetadas (glaucoma/no glaucoma), esta tesis también aborda el problema de la síntesis de imágenes de la retina. En concreto se analizaron dos arquitecturas diferentes para la síntesis de imágenes, las arquitecturas Variational Autoencoder (VAE) y la Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). Con estas arquitecturas se generaron imágenes sintéticas que se analizaron cualitativa y cuantitativamente, obteniendo un rendimiento similar a otros trabajos en la literatura. Finalmente, en esta tesis se plantea la utilización de un tipo de GAN (DCGAN) como alternativa a los sistemas automáticos de evaluación del glaucoma presentados anteriormente. Para alcanzar este objetivo se implementó un algoritmo de aprendizaje semi-supervisado. / [CA] Les imatges de fons d'ull són molt utilitzades pels oftalmòlegs per a l'avaluació de la retina i la detecció de glaucoma. Aquesta patologia és la segona causa de ceguesa al món, segons estudis de l'Organització Mundial de la Salut (OMS). En aquesta tesi doctoral, s'estudien algoritmes d'aprenentatge automàtic (machine learning) per a l'avaluació automàtica del glaucoma usant imatges de fons d'ull. En primer lloc, es proposen dos mètodes per a la segmentació automàtica. El primer mètode utilitza la transformació Watershed Estocàstica per segmentar la copa òptica i després mesurar característiques clíniques com la relació Copa / Disc i la regla ISNT. El segon mètode és una arquitectura U-Net que s'usa específicament per a la segmentació del disc òptic i la copa òptica. A continuació, es presenten sistemes automàtics d'avaluació del glaucoma basats en xarxes neuronals convolucionals (CNN per les sigles en anglès). En aquest enfocament s'utilitzen diferents models entrenats en ImageNet com classificadors automàtics de glaucoma, usant fine-tuning. Aquesta nova tècnica permet detectar el glaucoma sense segmentació prèvia o extracció de característiques. A més, aquest enfocament presenta una millora considerable del rendiment comparat amb altres treballs de l'estat de l'art. En tercer lloc, donada la dificultat d'obtenir grans quantitats d'imatges etiquetades (glaucoma / no glaucoma), aquesta tesi també aborda el problema de la síntesi d'imatges de la retina. En concret es van analitzar dues arquitectures diferents per a la síntesi d'imatges, les arquitectures Variational Autoencoder (VAE) i la Generative adversarial Networks (GAN). Amb aquestes arquitectures es van generar imatges sintètiques que es van analitzar qualitativament i quantitativament, obtenint un rendiment similar a altres treballs a la literatura. Finalment, en aquesta tesi es planteja la utilització d'un tipus de GAN (DCGAN) com a alternativa als sistemes automàtics d'avaluació del glaucoma presentats anteriorment. Per assolir aquest objectiu es va implementar un algoritme d'aprenentatge semi-supervisat. / [EN] Fundus images are widely used by ophthalmologists to assess the retina and detect glaucoma, which is, according to studies from the World Health Organization (WHO), the second cause of blindness worldwide. In this thesis, machine learning algorithms for automatic glaucoma assessment using fundus images are studied. First, two methods for automatic segmentation are proposed. The first method uses the Stochastic Watershed transformation to segment the optic cup and measures clinical features such as the Cup/Disc ratio and ISNT rule. The second method is a U-Net architecture focused on the optic disc and optic cup segmentation task. Secondly, automated glaucoma assessment systems using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are presented. In this approach, different ImageNet-trained models are fine-tuned and used as automatic glaucoma classifiers. These new techniques allow detecting glaucoma without previous segmentation or feature extraction. Moreover, it improves the performance of other state-of-art works. Thirdly, given the difficulty of getting large amounts of glaucoma-labelled images, this thesis addresses the problem of retinal image synthesis. Two different architectures for image synthesis, the Variational Autoencoder (VAE) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) architectures, were analysed. Using these models, synthetic images that were qualitative and quantitative analysed, reporting state-of-the-art performance, were generated. Finally, an adversarial model is used to create an alternative automatic glaucoma assessment system. In this part, a semi-supervised learning algorithm was implemented to reach this goal. / The research derived from this doctoral thesis has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana under the scholarship Santiago Grisolía [GRISOLIA/2015/027]. / Díaz Pinto, AY. (2019). Machine Learning for Glaucoma Assessment using Fundus Images [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/124351 / TESIS

[pt] O aprendizado supervisionado é, hoje, o ramo do aprendizado de máquina central para a maioria das inovações nos negócios. A abordagem depende de ter grandes quantidades de dados rotulados, suficiente para ajustar funções com a precisão necessária. No entanto, pode ser caro obter dados rotulados ou criar os rótulos através de um processo de anotação. O aprendizado semisupervisionado (SSL) é usado para rotular com precisão os dados a partir de pequenas quantidades de dados rotulados utilizando técnicas de aprendizado não supervisionado. Uma técnica de rotulagem é a propagação de rótulos. Neste trabalho, usamos especificamente o algoritmo Consensus rate-based label propagation (CRLP). Este algoritmo depende do uma função de consenso para a propagação. Uma possível função de consenso é a matriz de co-associação que estima a probabilidade dos pontos i e j pertencem ao mesmo grupo. Neste trabalho, observamos que a matriz de co-associação contém informações valiosas para tratar esse tipo de problema. Quando nenhum dado está rotulado, é comum escolher aleatoriamente, com probabilidade uniforme, os dados a serem rotulados manualmente, a partir dos quais a propagação procede. Este trabalho aborda o problema de seleção de um conjunto de tamanho fixo de dados para serem rotulados manualmente que propiciem uma melhor precisão no algoritmo de propagação de rótulos. Três técnicas de seleção, baseadas em princípios de amostragem estocástica, são propostas: Stratified Sampling (SS), Probability (P), and Stratified Sampling - Probability (SSP). Eles são todos baseados nas informações embutidas na matriz de co-associação. Os experimentos foram realizados em 15 conjuntos de benchmarks e mostraram resultados muito interessantes. Não só, porque eles fornecem uma seleção mais equilibrada quando comparados a uma seleção aleatória, mas também melhoram os resultados de precisão na propagação de rótulos. Em outro contexto, essas estratégias também foram testadas dentro de um processo de aprendizagem ativa, obtendo também bons resultados. / [en] Supervised learning is, today, the branch of Machine Learning central to most business disruption. The approach relies on having amounts of labeled data large enough to learn functions with the required approximation. However, labeled data may be expensive, to obtain or to construct through a labeling process. Semi-supervised learning (SSL) strives to label accurately data from small amounts of labeled data and the use of unsupervised learning techniques. One labeling technique is label propagation. We use specifically the Consensus rate-based label propagation (CRLP) in this work. A consensus function is central to the propagation. A possible consensus function is a coassociation matrix that estimates the probability of data points i and j belong to the same group. In this work, we observe that the co-association matrix has valuable information embedded in it. When no data is labeled, it is common to choose with a uniform probability randomly, the data to manually label, from which the propagation proceeds. This work addresses the problem of selecting a fixed-size set of data points to label (manually), to improve the label propagation algorithm s accuracy. Three selection techniques, based on stochastic sampling principles, are proposed: Stratified Sampling (SP), Probability (P), and Stratified Sampling - Probability (SSP). They are all based on the information embedded in the co-association matrix. Experiments were carried out on 15 benchmark sets and showed exciting results. Not only because they provide a more balanced selection when compared to a uniform random selection, but also improved the accuracy results of a label propagation method. These strategies were also tested inside an active learning process in a different context, also achieving good results.

[pt] O segmento offshore de produção de petróleo é o principal produtor nacional desse insumo. Nesse contexto, inspeções submarinas são cruciais para a manutenção preventiva dos equipamentos, que permanecem toda a vida útil em ambiente oceânico. A partir dos dados de imagem e sensor coletados nessas inspeções, especialistas são capazes de prevenir e reparar eventuais danos. Tal processo é profundamente complexo, demorado e custoso, já que profissionais especializados têm que assistir a horas de vídeos atentos a detalhes. Neste cenário, o presente trabalho explora o uso de modelos de classificação de imagens projetados para auxiliar os especialistas a encontrarem o(s) evento(s) de interesse nos vídeos de inspeções submarinas. Esses modelos podem ser embarcados no ROV ou na plataforma para realizar inferência em tempo real, o que pode acelerar o ROV, diminuindo o tempo de inspeção e gerando uma grande redução nos custos de inspeção. No entanto, existem alguns desafios inerentes ao problema de classificação de imagens de inspeção submarina, tais como: dados rotulados balanceados são caros e escassos; presença de ruído entre os dados; alta variância intraclasse; e características físicas da água que geram certas especificidades nas imagens capturadas. Portanto, modelos supervisionados tradicionais podem não ser capazes de cumprir a tarefa. Motivado por esses desafios, busca-se solucionar o problema de classificação de imagens submarinas a partir da utilização de modelos que requerem menos supervisão durante o seu treinamento. Neste trabalho, são explorados os métodos DINO (Self-DIstillation with NO labels, auto-supervisionado) e uma nova versão multi-label proposta para o PAWS (Predicting View Assignments With Support Samples, semi-supervisionado), que chamamos de mPAWS (multi-label PAWS). Os modelos são avaliados com base em sua performance como extratores de features para o treinamento de um classificador simples, formado por uma camada densa. Nos experimentos realizados, para uma mesma arquitetura, se obteve uma performance que supera em 2.7 por cento o f1-score do equivalente supervisionado. / [en] The offshore oil production segment is the main national producer of this input. In this context, underwater inspections are crucial for the preventive maintenance of equipment, which remains in the ocean environment for its entire useful life. From the image and sensor data collected in these inspections,experts are able to prevent and repair damage. Such a process is deeply complex, time-consuming and costly, as specialized professionals have to watch hours of videos attentive to details. In this scenario, the present work explores the use of image classification models designed to help experts to find the event(s) of interest in under water inspection videos. These models can be embedded in the ROV or on the platform to perform real-time inference,which can speed up the ROV, monitor notification time, and greatly reduce verification costs. However, there are some challenges inherent to the problem of classification of images of armored submarines, such as: balanced labeled data are expensive and scarce; the presence of noise among the data; high intraclass variance; and some physical characteristics of the water that achieved certain specificities in the captured images. Therefore, traditional supervised models may not be able to fulfill the task. Motivated by these challenges, we seek to solve the underwater image classification problem using models that require less supervision during their training. In this work, they are explorers of the DINO methods (Self-Distillation with NO labels, self-supervised) anda new multi-label version proposed for PAWS (Predicting View AssignmentsWith Support Samples, semi-supervised), which we propose as mPAWS (multi-label PAWS). The models are evaluated based on their performance as features extractors for training a simple classifier, formed by a dense layer. In the experiments carried out, for the same architecture, a performance was obtained that exceeds by 2.7 percent the f1-score of the supervised equivalent.

Image recognition is a subfield in computer vision, representing a set of methods for analyzing images. Image recognition systems allow computers to automatically find patterns and draw conclusions directly from images. The recent growth of the ecommerce fashion industry has sparked an increased interest from research community, and subsequently industry participants have started to apply image recognition technologies to automate various processes and applications like clothing categorization, attribute tagging, automatic product recommendations and many more. However, most research have been concerned with supervised learning, which require large labeled datasets. This thesis investigates an alternative approach which could potentially mitigate the reliance of large labeled datasets. Specifically, it investigates how Semi- Supervised Learning (SSL) compares to supervised learning in the context of fashion category classification. This thesis demonstrates that a state- of- the- art SSL method to train Deep Convolutional Neural Networks can provide very close accuracy to supervised learning by a margin of approximately 1 to 3 percent for the considered set of images. / Bildigenkänning är ett delområde inom datorseende, det representerar en uppsättning metoder för att analysera bilder. Bildigenkänningssystem tillåter datorer att automatiskt hitta mönster och dra slutsatser direkt från bilder. Den senaste tillväxten inom mode e- handeln har ökat forskningsintresset inom området, detta har bidragit till att aktörer på marknaden har börjat applicera bildigenkänningstekniker för att automatisera diverse processer och applikationer, som till exempel klädeskategorisering, märkning av attribut, automatiska produktrekommendationer med flera. Dock så har majoriteten av all forskning inom detta område har fokuserat på övervakad inlärning, vilket kräver stora annoterade dataset, den här uppsatsen undersöker istället en alternativ metod, som potentiellt kan minska beroendet på stora annoterade dataset. Specifikt så undersöks och jämförs semiövervakad inlärning med övervakad inlärning vid kategorisering av modebilder. Resultaten visar att en toppmodern semiövervakad inlärningsmetod för att träna ett djupt neuralt nätverk kan åstadkomma en precision väldigt nära övervakad inlärning, med en marginal på ungefär 1 till 3 procent för de använda modebilderna.

Objective non-intrusive speech quality assessment aimed to emulate and correlate with human judgement has received more attention over the years. It is a difficult problem due to three reasons: data scarcity, noisy human judgement, and a potential uneven distribution of bias of mean opinion scores (MOS). In this paper, we introduce the Latent Mean-Opinion-Score Network (LaMOSNet) that leverage on individual judge’s scores to increase the data size, and new ideas to deal with both noisy and biased labels. We introduce a methodology called Optimistic Judge Estimation as a way to reduce bias in MOS in a clear way. We also implement stochastic gradient noise and mean teacher, ideas from noisy image classification, to further deal with noisy and uneven bias distribution of labels. We achieve competitive results on VCC2018 modeling MOS, and state-of-the-art modeling only listener dependent scores. / Objektiv referensfri ljudkvalitétsbedömning ämnad att härma och korrelera med mänsklig bedömning har fått mer uppmärksamhet med åren. Det är ett svårt problem på grund av tre anledningar: brist på data, varians i mänsklig bedömning, och en potentiell ojämn fördelning av bias av medel bedömningsvärde (mean opinion score, MOS). I detta papper introducerar vi Latent Mean-Opinion-Score Network (LaMOSNet) som tar nytta av individuella bedömmares poäng för att öka datastorleken, och nya idéer för att handskas med både varierande och partisk märkning. Jag introducerar en metodologi som kallas Optimistisk bedömmarestimering, ett sätt att minska partiskheten i MOS på ett klart sätt. Jag implementerar också stokastisk gradient variation och medellärare, idéer från opålitlig bild igenkänning, för att ännu mer hantera opålitliga märkningar. Jag får jämförelsebara resultat på VCC2018 när jag modellerar MOS, och state-of-the-art när jag modellerar enbart beömmarnas märkning.

Recent increase in widespread use of facial recognition technologies have accelerated the utilization of demographic information, as extracted from facial features, yet it is accompanied by ethical concerns. It is therefore crucial, for ethical reasons, to ensure that algorithms like face recognition algorithms employed in legal proceedings are equitable and thoroughly documented across diverse populations. Accurate classification of demographic traits are therefore essential for enabling a comprehensive understanding of other algorithms. This thesis explores how classical machine learning algorithms compare to deep-learning models in predicting sex, age and skin color, concluding that the more compute-heavy deep-learning models, where the best performing models achieved an MCC of 0.99, 0.48 and 0.85 for sex, age and skin color respectively, significantly outperform their classical machine learning counterparts which achieved an MCC of 0.57, 0.22 and 0.54 at best. Once establishing that the deep-learning models are superior, further methods such as semi-supervised learning, a multi-characteristic classifier, sex-specific age classifiers and using tightly cropped facial images instead of upper-body images were employed to try and improve the deep-learning results. Throughout all deep-learning experiments the state of the art vision transformer and convolutional neural network were compared. Whilst the different architectures performed remarkably alike, a slight edge was seen for the convolutional neural network. The results further show that using cropped facial images generally improve the model performance and that more specialized models achieve modest improvements as compared to their less specialized counterparts. Semi-supervised learning showed potential in slightly improving the models further. The predictive performances achieved in this thesis indicate that the deep-learning models can reliably predict demographic features close to, or surpassing, a human.

Malgré des progrès constants en termes de capacité de calcul, mémoire et quantité de données disponibles, les algorithmes d'apprentissage machine doivent se montrer efficaces dans l'utilisation de ces ressources. La minimisation des coûts est évidemment un facteur important, mais une autre motivation est la recherche de mécanismes d'apprentissage capables de reproduire le comportement d'êtres intelligents. Cette thèse aborde le problème de l'efficacité à travers plusieurs articles traitant d'algorithmes d'apprentissage variés : ce problème est vu non seulement du point de vue de l'efficacité computationnelle (temps de calcul et mémoire utilisés), mais aussi de celui de l'efficacité statistique (nombre d'exemples requis pour accomplir une tâche donnée). Une première contribution apportée par cette thèse est la mise en lumière d'inefficacités statistiques dans des algorithmes existants. Nous montrons ainsi que les arbres de décision généralisent mal pour certains types de tâches (chapitre 3), de même que les algorithmes classiques d'apprentissage semi-supervisé à base de graphe (chapitre 5), chacun étant affecté par une forme particulière de la malédiction de la dimensionalité. Pour une certaine classe de réseaux de neurones, appelés réseaux sommes-produits, nous montrons qu'il peut être exponentiellement moins efficace de représenter certaines fonctions par des réseaux à une seule couche cachée, comparé à des réseaux profonds (chapitre 4). Nos analyses permettent de mieux comprendre certains problèmes intrinsèques liés à ces algorithmes, et d'orienter la recherche dans des directions qui pourraient permettre de les résoudre. Nous identifions également des inefficacités computationnelles dans les algorithmes d'apprentissage semi-supervisé à base de graphe (chapitre 5), et dans l'apprentissage de mélanges de Gaussiennes en présence de valeurs manquantes (chapitre 6). Dans les deux cas, nous proposons de nouveaux algorithmes capables de traiter des ensembles de données significativement plus grands. Les deux derniers chapitres traitent de l'efficacité computationnelle sous un angle différent. Dans le chapitre 7, nous analysons de manière théorique un algorithme existant pour l'apprentissage efficace dans les machines de Boltzmann restreintes (la divergence contrastive), afin de mieux comprendre les raisons qui expliquent le succès de cet algorithme. Finalement, dans le chapitre 8 nous présentons une application de l'apprentissage machine dans le domaine des jeux vidéo, pour laquelle le problème de l'efficacité computationnelle est relié à des considérations d'ingénierie logicielle et matérielle, souvent ignorées en recherche mais ô combien importantes en pratique. / Despite constant progress in terms of available computational power, memory and amount of data, machine learning algorithms need to be efficient in how they use them. Although minimizing cost is an obvious major concern, another motivation is to attempt to design algorithms that can learn as efficiently as intelligent species. This thesis tackles the problem of efficient learning through various papers dealing with a wide range of machine learning algorithms: this topic is seen both from the point of view of computational efficiency (processing power and memory required by the algorithms) and of statistical efficiency (n umber of samples necessary to solve a given learning task).The first contribution of this thesis is in shedding light on various statistical inefficiencies in existing algorithms. Indeed, we show that decision trees do not generalize well on tasks with some particular properties (chapter 3), and that a similar flaw affects typical graph-based semi-supervised learning algorithms (chapter 5). This flaw is a form of curse of dimensionality that is specific to each of these algorithms. For a subclass of neural networks, called sum-product networks, we prove that using networks with a single hidden layer can be exponentially less efficient than when using deep networks (chapter 4). Our analyses help better understand some inherent flaws found in these algorithms, and steer research towards approaches that may potentially overcome them. We also exhibit computational inefficiencies in popular graph-based semi-supervised learning algorithms (chapter 5) as well as in the learning of mixtures of Gaussians with missing data (chapter 6). In both cases we propose new algorithms that make it possible to scale to much larger datasets. The last two chapters also deal with computational efficiency, but in different ways. Chapter 7 presents a new view on the contrastive divergence algorithm (which has been used for efficient training of restricted Boltzmann machines). It provides additional insight on the reasons why this algorithm has been so successful. Finally, in chapter 8 we describe an application of machine learning to video games, where computational efficiency is tied to software and hardware engineering constraints which, although often ignored in research papers, are ubiquitous in practice.

Extracting useful knowledge from data sets is a key concept in modern information systems. Consequently, the need of efficient techniques to extract the desired knowledge has been growing over time. Machine learning is a research field dedicated to the development of techniques capable of enabling a machine to \"learn\" from data. Many techniques have been proposed so far, but there are still issues to be unveiled specially in interdisciplinary research. In this thesis, we explore the advantages of network data representation to develop machine learning techniques based on dynamical processes on networks. The network representation unifies the structure, dynamics and functions of the system it represents, and thus is capable of capturing the spatial, topological and functional relations of the data sets under analysis. We develop network-based techniques for the three machine learning paradigms: supervised, semi-supervised and unsupervised. The random walk dynamical process is used to characterize the access of unlabeled data to data classes, configuring a new heuristic we call ease of access in the supervised paradigm. We also propose a classification technique which combines the high-level view of the data, via network topological characterization, and the low-level relations, via similarity measures, in a general framework. Still in the supervised setting, the modularity and Katz centrality network measures are applied to classify multiple observation sets, and an evolving network construction method is applied to the dimensionality reduction problem. The semi-supervised paradigm is covered by extending the ease of access heuristic to the cases in which just a few labeled data samples and many unlabeled samples are available. A semi-supervised technique based on interacting forces is also proposed, for which we provide parameter heuristics and stability analysis via a Lyapunov function. Finally, an unsupervised network-based technique uses the concepts of pinning control and consensus time from dynamical processes to derive a similarity measure used to cluster data. The data is represented by a connected and sparse network in which nodes are dynamical elements. Simulations on benchmark data sets and comparisons to well-known machine learning techniques are provided for all proposed techniques. Advantages of network data representation and dynamical processes for machine learning are highlighted in all cases / A extração de conhecimento útil a partir de conjuntos de dados é um conceito chave em sistemas de informação modernos. Por conseguinte, a necessidade de técnicas eficientes para extrair o conhecimento desejado vem crescendo ao longo do tempo. Aprendizado de máquina é uma área de pesquisa dedicada ao desenvolvimento de técnicas capazes de permitir que uma máquina \"aprenda\" a partir de conjuntos de dados. Muitas técnicas já foram propostas, mas ainda há questões a serem reveladas especialmente em pesquisas interdisciplinares. Nesta tese, exploramos as vantagens da representação de dados em rede para desenvolver técnicas de aprendizado de máquina baseadas em processos dinâmicos em redes. A representação em rede unifica a estrutura, a dinâmica e as funções do sistema representado e, portanto, é capaz de capturar as relações espaciais, topológicas e funcionais dos conjuntos de dados sob análise. Desenvolvemos técnicas baseadas em rede para os três paradigmas de aprendizado de máquina: supervisionado, semissupervisionado e não supervisionado. O processo dinâmico de passeio aleatório é utilizado para caracterizar o acesso de dados não rotulados às classes de dados configurando uma nova heurística no paradigma supervisionado, a qual chamamos de facilidade de acesso. Também propomos uma técnica de classificação de dados que combina a visão de alto nível dos dados, por meio da caracterização topológica de rede, com relações de baixo nível, por meio de medidas de similaridade, em uma estrutura geral. Ainda no aprendizado supervisionado, as medidas de rede modularidade e centralidade Katz são aplicadas para classificar conjuntos de múltiplas observações, e um método de construção evolutiva de rede é aplicado ao problema de redução de dimensionalidade. O paradigma semissupervisionado é abordado por meio da extensão da heurística de facilidade de acesso para os casos em que apenas algumas amostras de dados rotuladas e muitas amostras não rotuladas estão disponíveis. É também proposta uma técnica semissupervisionada baseada em forças de interação, para a qual fornecemos heurísticas para selecionar parâmetros e uma análise de estabilidade mediante uma função de Lyapunov. Finalmente, uma técnica não supervisionada baseada em rede utiliza os conceitos de controle pontual e tempo de consenso de processos dinâmicos para derivar uma medida de similaridade usada para agrupar dados. Os dados são representados por uma rede conectada e esparsa na qual os vértices são elementos dinâmicos. Simulações com dados de referência e comparações com técnicas de aprendizado de máquina conhecidas são fornecidos para todas as técnicas propostas. As vantagens da representação de dados em rede e de processos dinâmicos para o aprendizado de máquina são evidenciadas em todos os casos

Malgré des progrès constants en termes de capacité de calcul, mémoire et quantité de données disponibles, les algorithmes d'apprentissage machine doivent se montrer efficaces dans l'utilisation de ces ressources. La minimisation des coûts est évidemment un facteur important, mais une autre motivation est la recherche de mécanismes d'apprentissage capables de reproduire le comportement d'êtres intelligents. Cette thèse aborde le problème de l'efficacité à travers plusieurs articles traitant d'algorithmes d'apprentissage variés : ce problème est vu non seulement du point de vue de l'efficacité computationnelle (temps de calcul et mémoire utilisés), mais aussi de celui de l'efficacité statistique (nombre d'exemples requis pour accomplir une tâche donnée). Une première contribution apportée par cette thèse est la mise en lumière d'inefficacités statistiques dans des algorithmes existants. Nous montrons ainsi que les arbres de décision généralisent mal pour certains types de tâches (chapitre 3), de même que les algorithmes classiques d'apprentissage semi-supervisé à base de graphe (chapitre 5), chacun étant affecté par une forme particulière de la malédiction de la dimensionalité. Pour une certaine classe de réseaux de neurones, appelés réseaux sommes-produits, nous montrons qu'il peut être exponentiellement moins efficace de représenter certaines fonctions par des réseaux à une seule couche cachée, comparé à des réseaux profonds (chapitre 4). Nos analyses permettent de mieux comprendre certains problèmes intrinsèques liés à ces algorithmes, et d'orienter la recherche dans des directions qui pourraient permettre de les résoudre. Nous identifions également des inefficacités computationnelles dans les algorithmes d'apprentissage semi-supervisé à base de graphe (chapitre 5), et dans l'apprentissage de mélanges de Gaussiennes en présence de valeurs manquantes (chapitre 6). Dans les deux cas, nous proposons de nouveaux algorithmes capables de traiter des ensembles de données significativement plus grands. Les deux derniers chapitres traitent de l'efficacité computationnelle sous un angle différent. Dans le chapitre 7, nous analysons de manière théorique un algorithme existant pour l'apprentissage efficace dans les machines de Boltzmann restreintes (la divergence contrastive), afin de mieux comprendre les raisons qui expliquent le succès de cet algorithme. Finalement, dans le chapitre 8 nous présentons une application de l'apprentissage machine dans le domaine des jeux vidéo, pour laquelle le problème de l'efficacité computationnelle est relié à des considérations d'ingénierie logicielle et matérielle, souvent ignorées en recherche mais ô combien importantes en pratique. / Despite constant progress in terms of available computational power, memory and amount of data, machine learning algorithms need to be efficient in how they use them. Although minimizing cost is an obvious major concern, another motivation is to attempt to design algorithms that can learn as efficiently as intelligent species. This thesis tackles the problem of efficient learning through various papers dealing with a wide range of machine learning algorithms: this topic is seen both from the point of view of computational efficiency (processing power and memory required by the algorithms) and of statistical efficiency (n umber of samples necessary to solve a given learning task).The first contribution of this thesis is in shedding light on various statistical inefficiencies in existing algorithms. Indeed, we show that decision trees do not generalize well on tasks with some particular properties (chapter 3), and that a similar flaw affects typical graph-based semi-supervised learning algorithms (chapter 5). This flaw is a form of curse of dimensionality that is specific to each of these algorithms. For a subclass of neural networks, called sum-product networks, we prove that using networks with a single hidden layer can be exponentially less efficient than when using deep networks (chapter 4). Our analyses help better understand some inherent flaws found in these algorithms, and steer research towards approaches that may potentially overcome them. We also exhibit computational inefficiencies in popular graph-based semi-supervised learning algorithms (chapter 5) as well as in the learning of mixtures of Gaussians with missing data (chapter 6). In both cases we propose new algorithms that make it possible to scale to much larger datasets. The last two chapters also deal with computational efficiency, but in different ways. Chapter 7 presents a new view on the contrastive divergence algorithm (which has been used for efficient training of restricted Boltzmann machines). It provides additional insight on the reasons why this algorithm has been so successful. Finally, in chapter 8 we describe an application of machine learning to video games, where computational efficiency is tied to software and hardware engineering constraints which, although often ignored in research papers, are ubiquitous in practice.