Reference · Glossary
Gradient descent
An optimization loop that **nudges model weights** in the direction that reduces loss — the core “learning” step in many trainers.
When to use
Explaining how neural nets and linear models improve iteratively on a loss function.
When not to
As a hand-wavy synonym for “AI magic” — tie it to a concrete loss and learning rate.
Example
Compute loss on a batch → backprop gradients → `weight -= lr * gradient` → repeat until loss plateaus.