Research into the principles underlying machine learning and deep learning dates right back to the 1950s, but the terms themselves only really emerged in the 2000s alongside revolutionary advances in computing and the setting aside of earlier scepticism about data-driven, statistical approaches to AI. Deep learning and machine learning techniques have also been effectively explored in the world of ELT, as in the brilliantly innovative Write & Improve from Cambridge English, which has used learner corpus data to inform a system which can automatically identify errors in students’ writing and give feedback.

Research into the principles underlying machine learning and deep learning dates right back to the 1950s, but the terms themselves only really emerged in the 2000s alongside revolutionary advances in computing and the setting aside of earlier scepticism about data-driven, statistical approaches to AI. Deep learning and machine learning techniques have also been effectively explored in the world of ELT, as in the brilliantly innovative Write & Improve from Cambridge English, which has used learner corpus data to inform a system which can automatically identify errors in students’ writing and give feedback.