Best Free Datasets for Machine Learning

Datasets are an integral part of machine learning and NLP (Natural Language Processing). Without training datasets, machine-learning algorithms would not have a way to learn text mining, text classification, or how to categorize products. 5–10 years ago it was very difficult to find datasets for machine learning and data science projects. But now we’ve been flooded with lists of datasets and now the problem is not finding a dataset, but rather sifting through them to keep the relevant ones.

So, in this blog, we have curated a list of free datasets for machine learning for you. Second, keep in mind that datasets with fewer rows and columns take less time in general while also being easier to work with.

1. Top Open Dataset Finders

When mastering machine learning, practicing with different datasets is a great place to start. Luckily, finding them is easy.

Kaggle: This data science site contains a diverse set of compelling, independently-contributed datasets for machine learning. If you’re looking for niche datasets, Kaggle’s search engine allows you to specify categories to ensure the datasets you find will fit your bill.

UCI Machine Learning Repository: This mainstay of open datasets has been a go-to for decades. As many of the datasets are user-contributed it’s imperative to inspect them for quality as the levels of cleanliness can vary. It’s worth noting, however, that most of the datasets are clean, which is what makes this repository a go-to. Users can also download the data without needing to register.

Google Dataset Search: Dataset Search contains over 25 million datasets from all across the web. Whether they’re hosted on a publisher’s site, a government domain, or a researcher’s blog, Dataset Search can find them.

2. Public Government Datasets for Machine Learning

Machine learning models trained using public government data help policymakers to identify trends and prepare for issues related to population growth, aging, and migration.

Food Environment Atlas Contains data for local food choices that affect diet in the US.

Chronic disease data Contains data on chronic disease indicators across the US.

The US National Center for Education Statistics — Data on educational institutions and education demographics from around the world.

3. Finance & Economics Datasets for Machine Learning

Naturally, the financial sector is embracing Machine Learning with open arms. As financial and economic quantitative records are typically kept meticulously, finance and economics are a great topic to roll out an AI or ML model. It’s already happening too, as many investment firms are using algorithms to guide their stock picks, predictions, and trades. Machine learning is also being used in the field of economics for things like testing economic models, or analyzing and predicting the behavior of populations.

American Economic Association (AEA): The AEA is a fantastic source for US macroeconomic data.

Quandl: Another great source for economic and financial data particularly for building predictive models around stocks and economic indicators.

IMF Data: The International Monetary Fund keeps track and meticulously maintains records around foreign exchange reserves, investment outcomes, commodity prices, debt rates, and international finances.

World Bank Open Data: The World Bank’s datasets cover population demographics alongside a high number of economic and development indicators across the world.

4. Natural Language Processing Datasets

The following list contains diverse datasets for various NLP processing tasks including voice recognition and chatbots.

Enron Dataset: Folder-organized senior management email data from Enron.

UCI’s Spambase: A juicy spam dataset that’s perfect for spam filtering.

Amazon Reviews: Yet another treasure trove containing 35 million Amazon reviews across 18 years featuring product reviews, user information, and even the plaintext view.

Conclusion

There you have it - a comprehensive list of free datasets for machine learning, computer vision, data analysis, data mining, and data visualization projects. We hope you’ve found the dataset you were looking for. If you want to require more information, then you can contact us.