Vocabulary

Understand the term. Connect the concept.

A practical dictionary of 512 AI, machine learning, mathematics, and programming terms from HerbDev’s AI Vocabulary app. Start with a definition, explore an example, then follow the concepts behind it.

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Activation

Neural Networks · Level 2 of 5

Activation

A value produced by a unit or layer after a transformation.

The word can refer to a signal, while activation function names the rule producing it.

Example

A hidden unit outputs 0.7 for one example.

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Audio transcript

Activation. A value produced by a unit or layer after a transformation. The word can refer to a signal, while activation function names the rule producing it. For example: A hidden unit outputs 0.7 for one example.

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Why it matters

This is part of the vocabulary used to read network diagrams and understand parameter updates.

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Put the terminology into context: How AI works · Machine-native representations · All learning paths

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