🎨 Activation Functions Zoo

Explore the world of activation functions and understand how they introduce non-linearity into neural networks

Your Progress

0 / 5 completed
Previous Module
Backpropagation Visualizer

Why Activation Functions?

Without activation functions, neural networks would just be linear transformations. No matter how many layers you stack, the result would be equivalent to a single linear layer.

🎯 The Non-Linearity Problem

Linear transformations can only create straight decision boundaries. Real-world problems need curves, circles, and complex shapes.

y = W₂(W₁x + b₁) + b₂
↓ (equivalent to)
y = Wx + b
🔗

Linear Layers

Perform weighted sums of inputs. Essential for learning, but can't model complex patterns alone.

Activation Functions

Add non-linearity, enabling networks to learn complex decision boundaries and patterns.

Key Properties

Non-linearity:Enables learning complex patterns
Differentiability:Required for backpropagation
Range:Output bounds affect network behavior
Computational Efficiency:Impacts training speed

Universal Approximation Theorem

Neural networks with at least one hidden layer and non-linear activation functions can approximate any continuous function to arbitrary precision (given enough neurons).

💡This theorem justifies the power of deep learning!