Version 2.6 of CNTK was released a few weeks ago so I figured I’d update my system and give it a try. CNTK (“Cognitive Network Tool Kit”) is Microsoft’s neural network code library. Primary alternatives include Google’s TensorFlow and Keras (a library that makes TF easier to use), and Facebook’s PyTorch.

To cut to the chase, I deleted by existing CNTK and then installed v2.6 using the pip utility, and then . .

As I write this, I think back about all the effort that was required to figure out how to install CNTK (and TF and Keras and PyTorch). It’s easy for me now, but if you’re new to using neural network code libraries, trust me, there’s a lot to learn — mostly about all the many things that can go wrong with an installation, how to interpret the error messages, and how to resolve.

OK, back to my post. I ran my favorite demo, classification on the Iris Dataset. My old (written for v2.5) CNTK code ran as expected. Excellent!

The real moral of the story is that deep learning with neural network libraries is new and still in a state of constant flux. This makes it tremendously difficult to stay abreast of changes. New releases of these libraries emerge not every free months, or even every few weeks, but often every few days. The pace of development is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in computer science.

Additionally, the NN libraries are just the tip of the technology pyramid. There are dozens and dozens of supporting systems, and they are being developed with blazing speed too. For example, I did an Internet search for “auto ML” and found many systems that are wrappers over CNTK or TF/Keras or PyTorch, and that are intended to automate the process pipeline of things like hyperparameter tuning, data preprocessing, and so on.

The blistering pace of development of neural network code libraries and supporting software will eventually slow down (maybe 18 months as a wild guess), but for now it’s an incredibly exciting time to be working with deep learning systems.

I suspect that an artist’s style doesn’t change too quickly over time (well, after their formative years anyway). Three paintings by an unknown (to me) artist with similar compositions but slightly different styles.