Vocabulary

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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 Function

Neural Networks · Level 2 of 5

Activation Function

A transformation applied to a unit's signal, often to introduce nonlinearity.

Without nonlinear operations, stacked affine layers collapse into one affine map.

Example

A rectifier replaces negative values with zero.

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Audio transcript

Activation Function. A transformation applied to a unit's signal, often to introduce nonlinearity. Without nonlinear operations, stacked affine layers collapse into one affine map. For example: A rectifier replaces negative values with zero.

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

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