Remember trying to train a simple image classifier back in 2018?

I was working on a project to sort pictures of my dog from pictures of my friend's cat, and just getting a clean dataset of a few hundred labeled images took me almost two weeks of manual work. The actual training and tweaking the model to get it above 90% accuracy took another solid month of evenings and weekends. What's a project that should have been quick but ate up way more of your time than you planned?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinhunt2mo agoMost Upvoted

Actually, that sounds about right for 2018. Getting a clean dataset was the real killer back then. I remember spending forever just cropping and labeling images by hand. The training time itself felt long, but the data prep was always the hidden time sink. It's wild how much easier that part is now with some of the tools available.

the_jana2mo ago

Ugh, my first attempt at a personal website was like that.

rose_young17d ago

Feeling for you on that data prep grind, it really was the hidden boss fight of every project back then. I remember spending a whole Saturday just fixing mislabeled images in my own dataset and wanting to throw my laptop out the window. It's a special kind of patience test that makes you appreciate the automated tools we have now.