🌟 What does “learned weight matrix” mean?
In machine learning (including Transformers), a weight matrix is like a table of numbers that the model uses to transform input data.
✅ “Learned” means:
- The model doesn’t start with fixed numbers.
- Instead, during training, it adjusts these numbers again and again to improve performance.
đź”§ Example in the Transformer
When creating the Query, Key, and Value vectors, we multiply the word embeddings by weight matrices:
Q=EmbeddingĂ—WQ, K=EmbeddingĂ—WK, V=EmbeddingĂ—WV
Here:
- WQ, WK, WV are the learned weight matrices.
- They start with random numbers.
- As the model trains on data, it adjusts these numbers (using optimization algorithms like gradient descent) to reduce error and improve accuracy.
đź’ˇ Simple analogy
Think of the weight matrix like a recipe:
- Initially, you guess ingredient amounts (random weights).
- You taste the dish (check loss/error).
- You adjust the recipe (update weights).
- Over time, you learn the best combination for great results.
🚀 Why is it important?
Without learning the weight matrix:
- The model would just apply fixed, useless transformations.
- With learning, the model adapts itself to the data, finding the best patterns to make good predictions.