This apropos last weeks definition of the Singularity. Machine learning is a set of techniques used to design and construct algorithms that adapt based on data and make predictions based on it.
So the way I see it, computers learn by analyzing their patterns (algorithms) and from available data to make themselves better, smarter and faster. They build data driven models from which they make predictions and come to decisions that allow them to exponentially grow and learn multi-directional and not just along one two-dimensional, exponential curve. And that’s where the Singularity comes to play… I think.