Inductive Bias

Synonyms

Learning bias; Variance hint

Definition

Most ML algorithms make predictions concerning future data which cannot be deduced from already observed data. The inductive bias of an algorithm is what choses between different possible future predictions. A strong form of inductive bias is the learner’s choice of hypothesis/model space which is sometimes called declarative bias. In the case of Bayesian analysis, the inductive bias is encapsulated in the prior distribution.

Cross-References

• Induction

• Learning as Search