Neural Networks: Multilayer Perceptrons

This lecture introduces Multilayer Perceptrons (MLP) as a flexible function family that can solve complex problems by finding smart features and regression coefficients simultaneously. It covers the concept of artificial neurons, popular activation functions like relu and sigmoid, matrix notation for MLP, and the importance of flexibility and regularization in neural networks. The lecture also discusses regression and classification tasks with MLPs, showcasing the XOR problem and the parametrization of conditional densities. Practical examples include regression with MLPs and classification with MLPs for tasks like fitting weather data and predicting analyte retention time in liquid chromatography.