Getting Started with Deep Learning: A Beginner’s Guide to Neural Networks

Margarida Afonso
Digital (R)Evolutions
6 min readApr 12, 2023

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Photo by Pietro Jeng on Unsplash

Deep learning has become a buzzword in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

But what exactly is deep learning, and how does it work?

1. What is Deep Learning?

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that involves training artificial neural networks to recognize patterns in data.

Deep learning algorithms are designed to simulate the activity of neurons in the human brain, allowing them to learn from large amounts of data and make accurate predictions or classifications. These networks are made up of layers of interconnected nodes, or “neurons,” each of which performs a simple mathematical operation on its input and passes the result to the next layer.

Through a process called “training,” repeated over many iterations, gradually the network’s accuracy improves as well as its ability to generalize and make better predictions from new data.

2. How Neural Networks Work

2.1. Layers of Interconnected Nodes

Neural networks are made up of layers of interconnected nodes, each of which performs a simple mathematical operation on its input and passes the result to…

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Margarida Afonso
Digital (R)Evolutions

Career Coach. Engineering Teacher. Digital & IT Program Manager. Healthy living enthusiast. Lifelong learner. Addicted reader. Art & Photography lover.