AI glossary
What is gradient?
Short answer
The slope of the loss with respect to each parameter; it points in the direction of steepest increase.
For example
Standing on a hillside in fog, the gradient is the direction the ground rises most steeply under your feet. Walking the opposite way takes you downhill.
Learn it in a free lesson
- Gradient descent: rolling downhillIntermediate · 6 min
- Backpropagation: blame, passed backwardsIntermediate · 6 min
- Reinforcement learning, deeperAdvanced · 7 min
- Decision trees and random forestsIntermediate · 7 min
- Seeing and remembering: CNNs & RNNsIntermediate · 7 min
Related terms
Questions
What is gradient in simple terms?
The slope of the loss with respect to each parameter; it points in the direction of steepest increase.
What is an example of gradient?
Standing on a hillside in fog, the gradient is the direction the ground rises most steeply under your feet. Walking the opposite way takes you downhill.
Where can I learn about gradient for free?
AI in Bed explains it in the free lesson "Gradient descent: rolling downhill" (Intermediate level, 6 minutes), with no sign-up.