B. Dynamic range quantization

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

Dynamic range quantization is a model optimization technique for reducing latency that reduces the numerical precision of the weights and activations of models. This technique can reduce the model size, memory usage, and inference time by up to 4x with negligible accuracy loss. Dynamic range quantization can be applied to a trained TensorFlow model without retraining, and it is suitable for mobile applications that require low latency and power consumption.

Weight pruning, model distillation, and dimensionality reduction are also model optimization techniques for reducing latency, but they have some limitations or drawbacks compared to dynamic range quantization:

Weight pruning works by removing parameters within a model that have only a minor impact on its predictions. Pruned models are the same size on disk, and have the same runtime latency, but can be compressed more effectively. This makes pruning a useful technique for reducing model download size, but not for reducing inference time.

Model distillation works by training a smaller and simpler model (student) to mimic the behavior of a larger and complex model (teacher). Distilled models can have lower latency and memory usage than the original models, but they require retraining and may not preserve the accuracy of the teacher model.

Dimensionality reduction works by reducing the number of features or dimensions in the input data or the model layers. Dimensionality reduction can improve the computational efficiency and generalization ability of models, but it may also lose some information or introduce noise in the data or the model. Dimensionality reduction also requires retraining or modifying the model architecture.

References:

[TensorFlow Model Optimization]
[TensorFlow Model Optimization Toolkit — Post-Training Integer Quantization]
[Model optimization methods to cut latency, adapt to new data]

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

The best option for splitting the data between the training, validation, and test sets, using a managed tabular dataset in Vertex AI that contains sales data from three different stores, is to use Vertex AI default data split. This option allows you to leverage the power and simplicity of Vertex AI to automatically and randomly split your data into the three sets by percentage. Vertex AI is a unified platform for building and deploying machine learning solutions on Google Cloud. Vertex AI can support various types of models, such as linear regression, logistic regression, k-means clustering, matrix factorization, and deep neural networks. Vertex AI can also provide various tools and services for data analysis, model development, model deployment, model monitoring, and model governance. A default data split is a data split method that is provided by Vertex AI, and does not require any user input or configuration. A default data split can help you split your data into the training, validation, and test sets by using a random sampling method, and assign a fixed percentage of the data to each set.

A default data split can help you simplify the data split process, and works well in most cases. A training set is a subset of the data that is used to train the model, and adjust the model parameters. A training set can help you learn the relationship between the input features and the target variable, and optimize the model performance. A validation set is a subset of the data that is used to validate the model, and tune the model hyperparameters. A validation set can help you evaluate the model performance on unseen data, and avoid overfitting or underfitting. A test set is a subset of the data that is used to test the model, and provide the final evaluation metrics. A test set can help you assess the model performance on new data, and measure the generalization ability of the model. By using Vertex AI default data split, you can split your data into the training, validation, and test sets by using a random sampling method, and assign the following percentages of the data to each set1:

The other options are not as good as option B, for the following reasons:

Option A: Using Vertex AI manual split, using the store name feature to assign one store for each set would not allow you to split your data into representative and balanced sets, and could cause errors or poor performance. A manual split is a data split method that allows you to control how your data is split into sets, by using the ml_use label or the data filter expression. A manual split can help you customize the data split logic, and handle complex or non-standard data formats. A store name feature is a feature that indicates the name of the store where the sales data was collected. A store name feature can help you identify the source of the data, and group the data by store.

However, using Vertex AI manual split, using the store name feature to assign one store for each set would not allow you to split your data into representative and balanced sets, and could cause errors or poor performance. You would need to write code, create and configure the ml_use label or the data filter expression, and assign one store for each set. Moreover, this option would not ensure that the data in each set has the same distribution and characteristics as the data in the whole dataset, which could prevent you from learning the general pattern of the data, and cause bias or variance in the model2.

Option C: Using Vertex AI chronological split and specifying the sales timestamp feature as the time variable would not allow you to split your data into representative and balanced sets, and could cause errors or poor performance. A chronological split is a data split method that allows you to split your data into sets based on the order of the data. A chronological split can help you preserve the temporal dependency and sequence of the data, and avoid data leakage. A sales timestamp feature is a feature that indicates the date and time when the sales data was collected. A sales timestamp feature can help you track the changes and trends of the data over time, and capture the seasonality and cyclicality of the data.

However, using Vertex AI chronological split and specifying the sales timestamp feature as the time variable would not allow you to split your data into representative and balanced sets, and could cause errors or poor performance. You would need to write code, create and configure the time variable, and split the data by the order of the time variable. Moreover, this option would not ensure that the data in each set has the same distribution and characteristics as the data in the whole dataset, which could prevent you from learning the general pattern of the data, and cause bias or variance in the model3.

Option D: Using Vertex AI random split, assigning 70% of the rows to the training set, 10% to the validation set, and 20% to the test set would not allow you to use the default data split method that is provided by Vertex AI, and could increase the complexity and cost of the data split process. A random split is a data split method that allows you to split your data into sets by using a random sampling method, and assign a custom percentage of the data to each set. A random split can help you split your data into representative and balanced sets, and avoid data leakage.

However, using Vertex AI random split, assigning 70% of the rows to the training set, 10% to the validation set, and 20% to the test set would not allow you to use the default data split method that is provided by Vertex AI, and could increase the complexity and cost of the data split process. You would need to write code, create and configure the random split method, and assign the custom percentages to each set. Moreover, this option would not use the default data split method that is provided by Vertex AI, which can simplify the data split process, and works well in most cases1.

References:

About data splits for AutoML models | Vertex AI | Google Cloud
Manual split for unstructured data
Mathematical split

A. Use AutoML to optimize the model’s recall in order to minimize false negatives.

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

Recall is the ratio of true positives to the sum of true positives and false negatives. It measures how well the model can identify all the relevant cases. In this scenario, the relevant cases are the pictures that do not meet the profile photo requirements. Therefore, minimizing false negatives means minimizing the cases where the model incorrectly predicts that a non-compliant picture meets the requirements. By using AutoML to optimize the model’s recall, the model will be more likely to reject a non-compliant picture and inform the user accordingly. References:
[AutoML Vision] is a service that allows you to train custom ML models for image classification and object detection tasks. You can use AutoML to optimize your model for different metrics, such as recall, precision, or F1 score.
[Recall] is one of the evaluation metrics for ML models. It is defined as TP / (TP + FN), where TP is the number of true positives and FN is the number of false negatives. Recall measures how well the model can identify all the relevant cases. A high recall means that the model has a low rate of false negatives.

B. Develop an image segmentation ML model to locate the boundaries of the rust spots.

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

The best option for developing a solution that predicts the presence and severity of the disease with high accuracy is to develop an image segmentation ML model to locate the boundaries of the rust spots. Image segmentation is a technique that partitions an image into multiple regions, each corresponding to a different object or semantic category. Image segmentation can be used to detect and localize the rust spots in the images of crops, and measure their shape and size. This information can then be used to determine the presence and severity of the disease, as the rust spots are correlated to the disease symptoms. Image segmentation can also handle the variability of the rust spots, as it does not rely on predefined templates or thresholds. Image segmentation can be implemented using deep learning models, such as U-Net, Mask R-CNN, or DeepLab, which can learn from large-scale datasets and achieve high accuracy and robustness. The other options are not as suitable for developing a solution that predicts the presence and severity of the disease with high accuracy, because:

Creating an object detection model that can localize the rust spots would only provide the bounding boxes of the rust spots, not their exact boundaries. This would result in less precise measurements of the shape and size of the rust spots, and might affect the accuracy of the disease prediction. Object detection models are also more complex and computationally expensive than image segmentation models, as they have to perform both classification and localization tasks.

Developing a template matching algorithm using traditional computer vision libraries would require manually designing and selecting the templates for the rust spots, which might not capture the diversity and variability of the rust spots. Template matching algorithms are also sensitive to noise, occlusion, rotation, and scale changes, and might fail to detect the rust spots in different scenarios. Template matching algorithms are also less accurate and robust than deep learning models, as they do not learn from data.

Developing an image classification ML model to predict the presence of the disease would only provide a binary or categorical output, not the location or severity of the disease. Image classification models are also less informative and interpretable than image segmentation models, as they do not provide any spatial information or visual explanation for the prediction. Image classification models might also suffer from class imbalance or mislabeling issues, as the presence of the disease might not be consistent or clear across the images. References:

Image Segmentation | Computer Vision | Google Developers
Crop diseases and pests detection based on deep learning: a review | Plant Methods | Full Text
Using Deep Learning for Image-Based Plant Disease Detection
Computer Vision, IoT and Data Fusion for Crop Disease Detection Using …
On Using Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things for Crop …
Crop Disease Detection Using Machine Learning and Computer Vision

C. 1 Use TFX components with Dataflow to encode the text features and scale the numerical features.
2 Export results to Cloud Storage as TFRecords.
3 Feed the data into Vertex Al Training.

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

TFX (TensorFlow Extended) is a platform for end-to-end machine learning pipelines. It provides components for data ingestion, preprocessing, validation, model training, serving, and monitoring. Dataflow is a fully managed service for scalable data processing. By using TFX components with Dataflow, you can perform feature engineering on large-scale tabular data in a distributed and efficient way. You can use the Transform component to apply the MaxMin scaler and the one-hot encoding to the numerical and categorical features, respectively. You can also use the ExampleGen component to read data from BigQuery and the Trainer component to train your TensorFlow model. The output of the Transform component is a TFRecord file, which is a binary format for storing TensorFlow data. You can export the TFRecord file to Cloud Storage and feed it into Vertex AI Training, which is a managed service for training custom machine learning models on Google Cloud.

References:

TFX | TensorFlow
Dataflow | Google Cloud
Vertex AI Training | Google Cloud

D. Apply quantization to your SavedModel by reducing the floating point precision to tf.float16.

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

Quantization is a technique that reduces the numerical precision of the weights and activations of a neural network, which can improve the inference speed and reduce the memory footprint of the model1.

Reducing the floating point precision from tf.float64 to tf.float16 can potentially halve the latency and memory usage of the model, while having minimal impact on the accuracy2.

Increasing the dropout rate to 0.8 in either mode would not affect the latency, but would likely degrade the performance of the model significantly, as dropout is a regularization technique that randomly drops out units during training to prevent overfitting3.

Switching from CPU to GPU serving may or may not improve the latency, depending on the hardware specifications and the model complexity, but it would also incur additional costs and complexity for deployment4

C. Migrate to training with Kuberflow on Google Kubernetes Engine, and use preemptible VMs with checkpoints.

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

Option A is incorrect because using AI Platform to run distributed training jobs with checkpoints does not reduce the compute costs, but rather increases them by using more resources and storing the checkpoints.

Option B is incorrect because using AI Platform to run distributed training jobs without checkpoints may reduce the compute costs, but it also risks losing the progress of the training if the job fails or is interrupted.

Option C is correct because migrating to training with Kubeflow on Google Kubernetes Engine, and using preemptible VMs with checkpoints can reduce the compute costs significantly by using cheaper and more scalable resources, while also preserving the state of the training with checkpoints.

Option D is incorrect because using preemptible VMs without checkpoints may reduce the compute costs, but it also risks losing the training progress if the VMs are preempted.

References:

Kubeflow on Google Cloud
Using preemptible VMs and GPUs
Saving and loading models

B. Vertex AI Pipelines, Vertex AI Prediction, and Vertex AI Model Monitoring

Answer DescriptionExplanation:

Option A is incorrect because Vertex AI Pipelines and App Engine do not meet all the requirements of the system. Vertex AI Pipelines is a service that allows you to create, run, and manage ML workflows using TensorFlow Extended (TFX) components or custom components1. App Engine is a service that allows you to build and deploy scalable web applications using standard or flexible environments2. However, App Engine does not support Docker containers in the standard environment, and does not provide a dedicated service for online prediction and monitoring of ML models3.

Option B is correct because Vertex AI Pipelines, Vertex AI Prediction, and Vertex AI Model Monitoring meet all the requirements of the system. Vertex AI Prediction is a service that allows you to deploy and serve ML models for online or batch prediction, with support for autoscaling and custom containers4. Vertex AI Model Monitoring is a service that allows you to monitor the performance and fairness of your deployed models, and get alerts for any issues or anomalies5.

Option C is incorrect because Cloud Composer, BigQuery ML, and Vertex AI Prediction do not meet all the requirements of the system. Cloud Composer is a service that allows you to create, schedule, and manage workflows using Apache Airflow. BigQuery ML is a service that allows you to create and use ML models within BigQuery using SQL queries. However, BigQuery ML does not support custom containers, and Vertex AI Prediction does not support scheduled model retraining or model monitoring.

Option D is incorrect because Cloud Composer, Vertex AI Training with custom containers, and App Engine do not meet all the requirements of the system. Vertex AI Training is a service that allows you to train ML models using built-in algorithms or custom containers. However, Vertex AI Training does not support online prediction or model monitoring, and App Engine does not support Docker containers in the standard environment or online prediction and monitoring of ML models3.

References:

Vertex AI Pipelines overview
App Engine overview
Choosing an App Engine environment
Vertex AI Prediction overview
Vertex AI Model Monitoring overview
[Cloud Composer overview]
[BigQuery ML overview]
[BigQuery ML limitations]
[Vertex AI Training overview]