Imbalanced Dataset

Imbalanced dataset

An imbalanced dataset is a dataset in which the distribution of classes or labels is not uniform. This can occur when there is a significant difference in the number of examples belonging to different classes.

For example, consider a dataset containing images of animals, where the goal is to classify the images as either "cat" or "dog". If the dataset contains significantly more images of cats than dogs, it would be considered imbalanced.

When creating machine learning models, balancing datasets can be difficult since they can result in biased predictions and poor model performance. This is because the model can be less sensitive to the minority class because it is more likely to be affected by the dominant class. For instance, in the aforementioned animal classification example, the model may perform better when predicting "cat" but less well when predicting "dog".

The problem of unbalanced datasets can be solved using a variety of methods, such as weighted loss functions, undersampling the majority class, and oversampling the minority class. It is also crucial to carefully assess the model's performance using metrics made to deal with unbalanced datasets, including the F1 score or the area under the precision-recall curve.

Overall, building machine learning models with the ability to handle imbalanced datasets can be difficult. However, by using the appropriate methods and techniques, this difficulty can be overcome.

Scale your annotation workflows and power your model performance with data-driven insights

Try Encord today

How do you balance a computer vision dataset?

When creating machine learning models, balancing datasets can be difficult since they can result in biased predictions and poor model performance. This is because the model can be less sensitive to the minority class because it is more likely to be affected by the dominant class. For instance, in the aforementioned animal classification example, the model may perform better when predicting "cat" but less well when predicting "dog".

The problem of unbalanced datasets can be solved using a variety of methods, such as weighted loss functions, undersampling the majority class, and oversampling the minority class. It is also crucial to carefully assess the model's performance using metrics made to deal with unbalanced datasets, including the F1 score or the area under the precision-recall curve.

Overall, building machine learning models with the ability to handle imbalanced datasets can be difficult. However, by using the appropriate methods and techniques, this difficulty can be overcome.