Machine Learning with Swift

Seeing biological analogies

Everyone has heard that artificial NNs mimic the way the brain works. This is actually far from the truth. What is true is that NNs as a field grew out of attempts to simulate how the brain works. The elementary unit of a brain is a neuron (a nerve cell). The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons. Neurons can generate electric potential (action potential) in its body. The neuron has branched projections of two types. One being short projections, known as dendrites (from Greek δεvεδpov, tree). Usually, their function is to receive electrical impulses from other neurons. The other type is longer projections, known as axons (from Greek αξωv, axis). Some neurons don't have axons, but no neurons have ...