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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Cost Function

Functions & Programming Concepts · Level 2 of 5

Cost Function

A task-dependent name for an objective or aggregated loss.

Authors use cost and loss inconsistently, so the formula matters more than the label.

Example

A training procedure averages per-example penalties into one scalar.

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Audio transcript

Cost Function. A task-dependent name for an objective or aggregated loss. Authors use cost and loss inconsistently, so the formula matters more than the label. For example: A training procedure averages per-example penalties into one scalar.

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This helps you distinguish a computation’s contract, inputs, outputs, and behavior.

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Loss Function

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