Microsoft has launched the public preview of its Lobe desktop app, which lets users train machine learning (ML) models without writing any code, for free.

The app currently only supports image classification. The tech giant is planning to expand the app to include other models and data types in the future.

Lobe “uses open-source machine learning architectures and transfer learning to train custom machine learning models on the user’s own machine”.

Users can start by simply importing images of the things they want Lobe to recognise.

“Once training is done, the models can be easily exported to run on industry-standard platforms and work in apps, websites or devices,” explained Microsoft in a blog post.

The app helps people create end-to-end machine learning solutions without code. It is also easier to improve accuracy. If the app mislabels any image, users can correct it with a click, Microsoft said.

The tech giant had acquired Lobe back in 2018 to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

The Lobe desktop app is available for download on Windows or Mac computers.

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