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Gradient Descent

Algorithm

An iterative optimization algorithm that repeatedly adjusts a set of parameters in the direction that most decreases a target function, moving downhill along the function's gradient until it settles near a minimum; the core optimizer behind training most machine-learning models.

Facts
Origin Year
1847 1
Core Principle
Gradient descent is an iterative optimization method that takes repeated steps in the direction opposite the gradient of a function at the current point, because that is the direction of steepest descent, moving the estimate toward a local minimum. 1
Connections

In Field

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Gradient Descent
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Description section, steepest descent
    The idea is to take repeated steps in the opposite direction of the gradient (or approximate gradient) of the function at the current point, because this is the direction of steepest descent.
  • History section, Cauchy attribution
    Gradient descent is generally attributed to Augustin-Louis Cauchy, who first suggested it in 1847.
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