These 3 vids are the ones that I found the most useful in helping me grasp the concept. I was coming at it from a programmers point of view - "How do I code it" Turns out that was the wrong question. You don't code it, it just works.
CNN's are only part of the picture but they're a good starting point. Now I I can grok them, a lot of the other stuff makes more sense.
https://youtu.be/l42lr8AlrHk
https://youtu.be/C_zFhWdM4ic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py5byOOHZM8
I reviewed those YouTube clips and they did help me gain more of an understanding of ANNs.
I also reviewed the following Wikipedia article on ANNs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_networkIn the ‘External Links’ section of the above article they list the following link:
http://www.dkriesel.com/en/science/neural_networksOn that site you can download the book,
A Brief Introduction to Neural Networks by David Kriesel, in PDF form. I downloaded the book, read a number of chapters in depth, and skimmed through the rest. Overall, I found the book very helpful.
That Wikipedia article on ANNs also led me to their article on Machine learning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learningThis article was also helpful, and the ‘Software’ section lists ‘Free and open-source software’. Seeing that, I went over to SourceForge and searched ‘artificial neural network’. To my surprise, I got 751 program hits!
Here’s my SourceForge link:
https://sourceforge.net/directory/os:windows/?q=artificial%20neural%20networkSo, on the surface, it appears that I just might be able to treat an ANN software package like an electrical engineer’s ‘black box’, and make it work for me as long as I can figure out how to program the inputs and outputs.
Now I have to decide if I want to try to take my new found, but superficial knowledge to the next level. Just for the hell of it, I did some ‘if/then’ AI programming for an open-source game a few years ago. So, I do have some programming skills, and the right ANN software package just might be adaptable to that particular open-source game, or another one I’m familiar with. Still, as I only get the urge to write code on a ‘once in a blue moon’ basis, I have to go through a ‘relearning curve’ every time I do it.
Anyway, I now know a little bit about Artificial Neural Networks. So, thanks for your original and your follow-up posts.