Follow Signals through a Simple Network

How a neural network works

A network with three layers of neurons, with each neuron connected to every other in the previous and next layer, looks pretty amazing. But the idea of calculating how signals progress from the inputs through the layers to become the outputs may seem a little daunting.

We agree that it is hard work, but it is also important to illustrate how a neural network works so we always know what is really happening inside it, even if we later use a computer to do all the work for us. So, let’s try looking at a smaller neural network with only two layers, each with two neurons. This is shown in the illustration below.