Dimensionality reduction is a fundamental process in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning used to simplify complex datasets by reducing the number of features or variables while retaining essential information.
This simplification improves computational efficiency, reduces the risk of overfitting, and enhances model performance, especially when dealing with high-dimensional data.
There are two main categories of dimensionality reduction techniques discussed in the sources:
- Feature Selection: These methods involve choosing a subset of the original features by discarding irrelevant or redundant ones. Examples include Missing Value Ratio, Low Variance Filter, High Correlation Filter, Random Forest, Backward Feature Elimination, and Forward Feature Selection.
- Feature Projection: These methods transform the original data into a lower-dimensional space by creating new features that are combinations of the original ones. Examples include Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), T-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), Autoencoders, Independent Component Analysis (ICA), Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), Kernel PCA, Factor Analysis, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), ISOMAP, and Locally Linear Embedding (LLE).
The choice of technique depends on factors like the AI task, data type, and available computational resources.
Linear methods like PCA and LDA are efficient for linearly related data, while nonlinear methods like t-SNE and UMAP are better for visualizing non-linear data. Dimensionality reduction is crucial in various AI applications such as image recognition, natural language processing, and bioinformatics. Research continues to explore new and hybrid approaches in this field.