Machine Learning with Apache Spark Quick Start Guide

Detecting patterns in the hidden layer

The job of the neurons in the hidden layer is to learn to detect patterns within the input data. In our case, the neurons in the hidden layer(s) will detect the presence of certain substructures that constitute a wider symbol. This is illustrated in Figure 7.7, where we assume that the first three neurons in the hidden layer learn to recognize forward slash, back slash and horizontal line type patterns respectively:

Figure 7.7: Neurons in the hidden layer detect patterns and substructures