Gated Recurrent Unit

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What Does Gated Recurrent Unit Mean?

A gated recurrent unit (GRU) is part of a specific model of recurrent neural network that intends to use connections through a sequence of nodes to perform machine learning tasks associated with memory and clustering, for instance, in speech recognition. Gated recurrent units help to adjust neural network input weights to solve the vanishing gradient problem that is a common issue with recurrent neural networks.

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Techopedia Explains Gated Recurrent Unit

As a refinement of the general recurrent neural network structure, gated recurrent units have what's called an update gate and a reset gate. Using these two vectors, the model refines outputs by controlling the flow of information through the model. Like other kinds of recurrent network models, models with gated recurrent units can retain information over a period of time – that is why one of the simplest ways to describe these types of technologies is that they are a "memory-centered" type of neural network. By contrast, other types of neural networks without gated recurrent units often do not have the ability to retain information.

In addition to speech recognition, neural network models using gated recurrent units may be used for research on the human genome, handwriting analysis and much more. Some of these innovative networks are used in stock market analysis and government work. Many of them leverage the simulated ability of machines to remember information.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.