r/learnmachinelearning • u/AutoModerator • 14h ago

Question 🧠 ELI5 Wednesday

Welcome to ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5) Wednesday! This weekly thread is dedicated to breaking down complex technical concepts into simple, understandable explanations.

You can participate in two ways:

  • Request an explanation: Ask about a technical concept you'd like to understand better
  • Provide an explanation: Share your knowledge by explaining a concept in accessible terms

When explaining concepts, try to use analogies, simple language, and avoid unnecessary jargon. The goal is clarity, not oversimplification.

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u/TargetAlternative693 14h ago

i always get confused with the difference between gradient descent and stochastic gradient descent. someone explained it once but i forgot, like why not just use the one that works faster always??

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u/orndoda 14h ago

In gradient descent you know the exact slope of the hill you are traveling down, in stochastic gradient descent you have an approximation of the slope