AI for Everyone: Train a Model on Google Cloud (No Code!)

Learn how to build your own AI model with your own data on Google Cloud, even if you've never coded before. We'll use Vertex AI AutoML, a tool that makes machine learning easy.

What is Vertex AI AutoML?

AutoML is like an automated factory for creating AI models. You just give it your data, and it does all the hard work for you—like cleaning the data and building the model—without you needing to know how it works.

This guide is for making models from tabular data (like a spreadsheet or CSV file). These models can do things like classification (sorting items into categories) or regression (predicting a number, like a house price).

1

Prepare Your Data

Your data is the most important part. It needs to be organized and clearly labeled. For example, if you want to predict which customers will buy something, your data should be in a spreadsheet where one column is labeled "Purchased" with a simple "yes" or "no" for each customer. The more good data you have, the better your model will be.

2

Upload Your Data to Google Cloud

First, you'll need a Google Cloud account. Once you're signed in, go to the Cloud Storage page. Create a new "bucket," which is like a folder in the cloud. Then, upload your spreadsheet or CSV file to this bucket.

3

Create a Dataset in Vertex AI

Next, go to the Vertex AI section and find the "Datasets" page.

  • Click "Create" and give your dataset a name.
  • Choose "Tabular".
  • Select the objective for your model (e.g., "Classification").
  • Point to your data in the Cloud Storage bucket.
4

Train Your Model

With your dataset ready, it's time to train the model.

  • Go to the "Train" tab and click "Create Training Job."
  • Choose "AutoML".
  • Select your dataset.
  • Tell the system which column in your spreadsheet is the "target" you want to predict (e.g., the "Purchased" column).

The training will start and can take a few minutes or hours. You'll get an email when it's done!

5

Evaluate & Use Your Model

Once training is complete, Vertex AI gives you a report on how well your model performed. Look at the "Evaluation" tab to check the accuracy. If you're happy with the results, you can "Deploy" your model to get predictions.

Vertex AI will create a "public endpoint" that lets you send new data to your model and get an instant prediction. This is how you can start using your new custom AI model.