Machine Learning Foundations

Model, explained

A model is the learned function or system that maps inputs to outputs after training.
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Part of the Semantic Notion technical glossary.

Short Definition

A model is the learned function or system that maps inputs to outputs after training.

Intuition

The model is the thing you use after learning is finished. It carries the pattern extracted from training data.

Technical Definition

A model is a parameterized mathematical function, probabilistic system, or learned program whose parameters are estimated from data.

Example

A trained fraud detector scores new transactions for risk.

Common Misunderstandings

A model is not the same as the dataset used to train it.
A larger model is not automatically a better model for every task.

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