Machine learning (ML), a core branch of artificial intelligence, enables systems to learn from data and execute tasks without explicit programming, with deep learning and its neural networks achieving significant breakthroughs. This powerful technology finds applications across diverse fields such as natural language processing, computer vision, medicine, and business analytics, where it's known as predictive analytics. The term "machine learning" was coined in 1959 by IBM's Arthur Samuel, who also developed an early checkers-playing program, building upon pioneering ideas like Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb's 1949 theoretical neural structures. Further historical milestones include Raytheon's "Cybertron" in the early 1960s, an experimental learning machine for signal analysis, and Tom M. Mitchell's formal definition, which describes learning as improving performance on tasks through experience.