What is "backpropagation"

n. 1 (context computing English) An error correction technique used in neural networks 2 (context neurology English) A phenomenon in which the action potential of a neuron creates a voltage spike both at the end of the axon, as normally, and also back through to the dendrites from which much of the original input current originated.

Backpropagation, an abbreviation for "backward propagation of errors", is a common method of training artificial neural networks used in conjunction with an optimization method such as gradient descent. The method calculates the gradient of a loss function with respect to all the weights in the network. The gradient is fed to the optimization method which in turn uses it to update the weights, in an attempt to minimize the loss function.

Backpropagation requires a known, desired output for each input value in order to calculate the loss function gradient. It is therefore usually considered to be a supervised learning method, although it is also used in some unsupervised networks such as autoencoders. It is a generalization of the delta rule to multi-layered feedforward networks, made possible by using the chain rule to iteratively compute gradients for each layer. Backpropagation requires that the activation function used by the artificial neurons (or "nodes") be differentiable.