Machine Learning Algorithms - Second Edition

Artificial neural networks

An ANN or simply a neural network is a directed or recurrent computational structure that connects an input layer to an output one. Normally, all operations are differentiable, and the overall vectorial function can be easily written as follows:

The function transforms a vector into another one by applying the same operator element-wise. Therefore, we assume the following:

The adjective neural comes from two important elements: the internal structure of a basic computational unit and the interconnections among them. ...