In
machine learning and
cognitive science,
artificial neural networks (
ANNs) are a family of models inspired by
biological neural networks (the
central nervous systems of animals, in particular the
brain) and are used to estimate or
approximate functions that can depend on a large number of
inputs and are generally unknown. Artificial neural networks are generally presented as systems of interconnected "
neurons" which exchange messages between each other. The connections have numeric weights that can be tuned based on experience, making neural nets adaptive to inputs and capable of learning.