5. Data Acquisition
Data Acquisition is vital for successful AI systems, forming the foundation upon which quality models are built. The process involves gathering data from various structured, unstructured, and semi-structured sources using techniques like surveys, sensors, APIs, and web scraping. Understanding the types of data, the significance of both primary and secondary sources, and addressing challenges such as legal, ethical, and quality issues are critical for effective data acquisition practices.
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What we have learnt
- Data Acquisition is the foundation of any AI system; without quality data, even the best algorithms fail.
- It involves collecting data from structured, unstructured, or semi-structured sources using methods like surveys, sensors, APIs, or scraping.
- Primary data is direct and more accurate; secondary data is pre-collected but useful.
- Tools like IoT devices, web scraping scripts, and APIs help automate data collection.
- Challenges include legal, technical, and quality-related issues, which must be addressed responsibly.
- Ultimately, good data acquisition practices lead to successful AI projects and trustworthy predictions.
Key Concepts
- -- Data Acquisition
- The process of collecting and measuring information from various sources to be used for analysis, training AI models, or making decisions.
- -- Structured Data
- Data organized in rows and columns, easily stored in databases and spreadsheets.
- -- Unstructured Data
- Data that does not follow a fixed format and requires preprocessing, such as images and social media posts.
- -- Primary Sources
- Data collected first-hand for a specific purpose, providing more accurate and reliable information.
- -- Secondary Sources
- Data collected by someone else which is reused for analysis, such as government reports and published datasets.
- -- Web Scraping
- An automated method of extracting data from websites, typically requiring programming knowledge.
- -- APIs
- Application Programming Interfaces that provide structured access to data from online services.
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