Machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on enabling computer systems to learn and improve their performance on a specific task without being explicitly programmed. It involves the use of mathematical and statistical algorithms to analyze and learn patterns from data. A machine learning model is trained on a dataset that includes input data and corresponding output values. The model then uses this training data to make predictions or classifications on new input data. Machine learning has many applications, including image recognition, natural language processing, speech recognition, recommendation systems, and predictive analytics. Ongoing research and development in machine learning continue to expand its capabilities and improve its accuracy and effectiveness.