deep learning

noun

computing

: a form of machine learning in which the computer network rapidly teaches itself to understand a concept without human intervention by performing a large number of iterative calculations on an extremely large dataset

Deep learning involves feeding machines lots of data so the AI can learn patterns itself without requiring humans to program knowledge into the machine.

—Mike Cherney

In deep learning, multiple neural networks are "stacked" on top of each other, or layered, in order to create models that are even better at prediction because each new layer learns from the ones before it.

—Derrick Harris

—sometimes used before another noun

The purpose of many deep learning systems is to minimize the amount of time spent feeding or quizzing a piece of software …

—Erik Sofge

Examples of deep learning in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Last year, a team led by Dan Hendrycks at the Center for AI Safety, and that included deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio, published their own AGI framework and metrics. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2026

More recently, researchers have applied deep learning methods directly to sonar imagery and have often shown improved performance, particularly in complex environments. —John Femiani, The Conversation, 30 Mar. 2026

To address these gaps, the researchers developed a hybrid system that combines deep learning with probabilistic filtering. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2026

At the dawn of deep learning, a little more than a dozen years ago, machines picked up how to distinguish a cat from a dog. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1986, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for deep learning

• adjourning
• concerning
• discerning
• returning
• burning
• churning
• earning
• spurning
• turning
• yearning
• overturning