Newsgroups: comp.ai.neural-nets
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!redstone.interpath.net!sas!mozart.unx.sas.com!saswss
From: saswss@hotellng.unx.sas.com (Warren Sarle)
Subject: Re: NN Vs Stats......
Originator: saswss@hotellng.unx.sas.com
Sender: news@unx.sas.com (Noter of Newsworthy Events)
Message-ID: <D2MJG7.2Iw@unx.sas.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 23:19:19 GMT
References: <1995Jan11.145719.1@ulkyvx.louisville.edu> <3fi9ec$jus@maui.cs.ucla.edu>
Nntp-Posting-Host: hotellng.unx.sas.com
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.
Lines: 20


In article <3fi9ec$jus@maui.cs.ucla.edu>, edwin@maui.cs.ucla.edu (E. Robert Tisdale) writes:
|> ahdeso02@ulkyvx.louisville.edu writes:
|>
|> >I just attended a class and the teacher categorically stated that
|> >all neural nets are statistical model. I personally beg to differ.
|>
|> Your teacher is right.  Training artificial neural networks is simply
|> finding the best estimates of the network connection weights and biases
|> -- the statistics. 

But neural nets are also used as biological models, in which case the
purpose is to see how well the net corresponds to biological
phenomena, not to find the best parameter estimates.

-- 

Warren S. Sarle       SAS Institute Inc.   The opinions expressed here
saswss@unx.sas.com    SAS Campus Drive     are mine and not necessarily
(919) 677-8000        Cary, NC 27513, USA  those of SAS Institute.
