Neural Network, Explained in Plain Language

A machine that learns by getting things wrong.

Dots and lines

Dots hold a number. Lines carry it to the next dot. That's the whole machine.

In one end, out the other

Numbers go in one side. An answer comes out the other.

Every line has a dial

Turn a dial up and that line matters more. A big network has millions of dials.

At first, it's wrong

All the dials start at random. So the first guess is nonsense.

So nudge the dials

Every dial that pushed toward "dog" gets turned down a hair. A hair. Not a lot.

Now do that a million times

Forward, then backward. Forward, then backward. Do that a million times and the dials settle somewhere that works. That's learning.