- Tensorflow has very little use for the mathematical concept of a "Tensor", apart from the fact that it is a multidimensional array as a way of organizing data.
- Again, most of what is covered in an Information theory class is coding theory, which is not directly applicable to ML. There are a few superficial connections, however, nothing enough to justify a whole class.
- A class on Harmonic analysis, again, though a beautiful subject, does not have any significant overlap with ML, apart from a few superficial similarities to do with convolution.
- Most ML Ph.d.s don't take these classes, and go on to have very successful careers.
This comment is very typical of a kind of snobbery in ML observers that goes along the lines of "you need to understand all these deep and hard concepts before you start to touch ML". Actually, you don;t. ML is, right now, still quite a young field as far as its branching off from statistics goes. We are still building the groundwork of this skyscraper.
We welcome everyone with any background, and hey, even those with none.