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Technical Vocabularynoun · /ˈnjʊərəl ˈnetwɜːrk/

neural network

In simple English

Neural networks are fundamental to modern AI systems and are used extensively in tech companies for tasks ranging from computer vision to natural language processing. They consist of layers of artificial neurons connected by weights that adjust during training to minimize errors. In workplace settings, you will hear engineers discuss training neural networks, tuning hyperparameters, and choosing architectures like CNNs or transformers. Understanding neural networks is essential for machine learning engineers, data scientists, and increasingly for full-stack developers working on AI-powered features. The term appears frequently in technical discussions, research papers, and job descriptions for AI-focused roles.

Understand what neural networks are, how they work, and why they matter in AI and machine learning applications.

At a glanceCEFR C1
Commonness4/5
Versatility4/5
FormalityCasualFormalFormal
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticDirect
RegionUS and UK
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Say it like this

✓We need to train a neural network for this classification task.
✓That neural network architecture is overfitting on the validation set.
✓The team decided to use a pre-trained neural network instead of building from scratch.

Real examples

in a standup

"We finished training the neural network yesterday and the accuracy improved by 12 percent."

in a code review

"This neural network has too many layers and will be slow to train on our hardware."

in a team meeting

"We should consider using a recurrent neural network for the time-series prediction module."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Often confused with the broader term 'machine learning'. A neural network is a specific type of machine learning model inspired by how the brain works, not all machine learning uses neural networks.

✕We neural networked the data to get predictions.
✓We used a neural network to make predictions on the data.— Neural network is a noun, not a verb. You train or deploy a neural network, but you do not neural network something.
✕Our neural network is very intelligent and understands everything.
✓Our neural network performs well on this specific task after training.— Neural networks are not intelligent or conscious. They are pattern-matching tools with no understanding. Describe what they actually do.
✕We used machine learning, so we used a neural network.
✓We used machine learning with a neural network approach.— Not all machine learning uses neural networks. Machine learning is broader and includes decision trees, SVMs, and other algorithms.

Other forms

noun

neural network

"The neural network achieved 95 percent accuracy on the test set."

noun

neural networks

"Modern neural networks require large amounts of training data to perform well."

adjective

neural network architecture

"We evaluated different neural network architectures for this project."

Often used with

train a neural networkMost common verb phrase meaning to adjust the weights of the network using training data.
deploy a neural networkTo put a trained neural network into production for real-world use.
convolutional neural network (CNN)A specific type of neural network used primarily for image processing tasks.
recurrent neural network (RNN)A neural network designed to handle sequential data like text or time series.
neural network modelThe trained neural network ready for inference or deployment.
neural network layerIndividual component of a neural network consisting of multiple neurons.

Similar words

deep learning modelMore specific term referring to neural networks with multiple layers, but often used interchangeably in casual speech.
machine learning modelBroader term that includes neural networks but also other algorithms like decision trees and SVMs.
artificial neural network (ANN)The formal full term, but neural network is more common in everyday use.

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Complete the sentence

1. We _______ the neural network on historical data to predict customer churn.

Spot the mistake

2. Which sentence uses neural network incorrectly?

Pick the most natural phrasing

3. Your colleague asks what you did to improve predictions. Which response sounds most natural?

Rewrite naturally

4. Rewrite this in natural tech English: 'We are going to use a computer system that copies how brains work to study the pictures that users send.'

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "neural network" in a standup this week?

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