What is the Best Machine Learning Algorithms for Imbalanced Datasets?

In machine learning, imbalanced datasets are those where one class heavily outnumbers the others. This can be due to the nature of the problem or simply because more data is available for one class than the others. Either way, imbalanced datasets can pose a challenge for machine learning algorithms. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at which machine learning algorithms are best suited for imbalanced datasets and why they tend to perform better than others.

 For example, in a binary classification problem, if there are 100 observations, and only 10 of them are positive (the rest are negatives), then we say that the dataset is imbalanced. The ratio of positive to negative cases is 1:10. 

There are a few reasons why some machine learning algorithms tend to perform better on imbalanced datasets than others. First, certain algorithms are designed to handle imbalanced datasets. Second, some algorithms are more robust to outliers, which can be more common in imbalanced datasets. And third, some algorithms are better able to learn from a limited amount of data, which can be an issue when one class is heavily outnumbered by the others.

Some of the best machine learning algorithms for imbalanced datasets include:

– Support Vector Machines (SVMs),
– Decision Trees,
– Random Forests,
– Naive Bayes Classifiers,
– k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN),

Of these, SVMs tend to be the most popular choice as they are specifically designed to handle imbalanced datasets. SVMs work by finding a hyperplane that maximizes the margin between the two classes. This helps to reduce overfitting and improve generalization. Decision trees and random forests are also popular choices as they are less sensitive to outliers than other algorithms such as linear regression. Naive Bayes classifiers are another good choice as they are able to learn from a limited amount of data. kNN is also a good choice as it is not sensitive to outliers and is able to learn from a limited amount of data. However, it can be computationally intensive for large datasets.

There are two main types of machine learning algorithms: supervised and unsupervised. Supervised algorithms tend to perform better on imbalanced datasets than unsupervised algorithms. In this blog post, we will discuss why this is so and look at some examples.

Supervised Algorithms
Supervised algorithms are those where the target variable is known. In other words, we have training data where the correct answers are already given. The algorithm then learns from this data and is able to generalize to new data. Some examples of supervised algorithms are regression and classification.

Unsupervised Algorithms
Unsupervised algorithms are those where the target variable is not known. With unsupervised algorithms, we only have input data, without any corresponding output labels. The algorithm has to learn from the data itself without any guidance. Some examples of unsupervised algorithms are clustering and dimensionality reduction.

Why Supervised Algorithms Perform Better on Imbalanced Datasets
The reason why supervised algorithms perform better on imbalanced datasets is because they can learn from the training data which cases are more important. With unsupervised algorithms, all data points are treated equally, regardless of whether they are in the minority or majority class.

For example, in a binary classification problem with an imbalanced dataset, let’s say that we want to predict whether a customer will default on their loan payment or not. We have a training dataset of 1000 customers, out of which only 100 (10%) have defaulted on their loan in the past.

If we use a supervised algorithm like logistic regression, the algorithm will learn from the training data that defaulting on a loan is rare (since only 10% of cases in the training data are Positive). This means that it will be more likely to predict correctly that a new customer will not default on their loan (since this is the majority class in the training data).
However, if we use an unsupervised algorithm like k-means clustering, all data points will be treated equally since there is no target variable to guide the algorithm. This means that it might incorrectly cluster together customers who have defaulted on their loans with those who haven’t since there is no guidance provided by a target variable.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, supervised machine learning algorithms tend to perform better on imbalanced datasets than unsupervised machine learning algorithms because they can learn from the training data which cases are more important. 

Some machine learning algorithms tend to perform better on highly imbalanced datasets because they are designed to deal with imbalance or because they can learn from both classes simultaneously. If you are working with a highly imbalanced dataset, then you should consider using one of these algorithms.

Thanks for reading!