Microsoft releases ‘how to train your AI’ open-source toolkit

Microsoft’s open-source toolkit will allow hobbyists to train their own AI with something as simple as a single laptop instead of towers of servers filled with NVIDIA GPUs.  Image INQUIRER.net

Artificial Intelligence research has reached a certain level of development so that now Microsoft wants even more people, not just big company software developers, to join in the fun by releasing an open-source toolkit for training one’s own AI.

The Cognitive Toolkit is the same set of deep-learning tools that Microsoft engineers from its dedicated AI division have utilized to develop the Skype Translator, its human-like speech recognition engine; and the quirky Cortana. Microsoft wants to make this toolkit open-source so that anyone can start training his or her own AI, reports Engadget.

Previously referred to as CNTK, the current beta version of the Cognitive Toolkit, Microsoft claims, is faster and far better than most of the other competing deep-learning toolkits. The company says it particularly shines when crunching large datasets across multiple machines. Hobbyists and startups will not have problems using the toolkit since Microsoft says that this platform is flexible enough to be run on a single laptop. The public release will also allow devs to bring in their own Python or C++ code.

The Cognitive Toolkit can now be downloaded from GitHub complete with expansive documentation, tutorials and example models courtesy of Microsoft.  Alfred Bayle