Neural networks provide the foundations for some of the most impressive AI/ML algorithms that we have seen in recent years. They have also become the cornerstone or standard for several areas of AI, from image and speech recognition to playing Atari games. This sounds really intimidating, but actually, a neural network is a quite a simple and elegant structure modeled after our own human brain. The foundation of our brain and nervous system is a single neuron, shown in the following image beside a simulated computer neuron:
A neuron
The simulated neuron in the preceding diagram represents the structure of a single neuron. The inputs, or signals, into the neuron are typically summed and then evaluated against some form of activation function. You can see an example activation function in the diagram. When a neuron is activated, or fired, it sends out...
