02·What is an artificial neural network — the biological analogy and its limits

Introduction

The name "neural network" suggests we are building a digital brain — and that is one of the most common myths in popular AI thinking. The truth is: artificial neural networks are very loosely inspired by neurons in the brain, but they differ from them the way an airplane differs from a bird. Both fly, but on completely different principles. In this lesson we will decompose the analogy: what really was transferred from biology, and what is pure mathematics dressed up in neural jargon.