A company wants to deploy a machine learning model that requires continuous learning as new data arrives. The model must be able to adapt to changing patterns without retraining from scratch. Which approach should be used?
Online learning updates the model incrementally, allowing adaptation to new data without full retraining.
Why this answer
Online learning (also called incremental learning) updates the model incrementally as each new data point arrives, without requiring full retraining. This makes it ideal for scenarios where data arrives continuously and patterns shift over time, as the model can adapt its parameters on the fly.
Exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between training paradigms (online vs. batch) and other ML concepts like transfer learning or unsupervised learning, so candidates may confuse 'continuous learning' with 'transfer learning' or incorrectly assume that any learning method can handle streaming data.
How to eliminate wrong answers
Option A is wrong because transfer learning reuses a pre-trained model on a new but related task, but it does not inherently support continuous adaptation to streaming data—it typically requires a separate fine-tuning phase. Option C is wrong because batch learning trains the model on the entire dataset at once and requires retraining from scratch when new data arrives, making it unsuitable for continuous learning. Option D is wrong because unsupervised learning is a paradigm for finding patterns in unlabeled data, not a deployment strategy for handling streaming data or model updates.