AI engineering glossary · Classical ML algorithms
What is elbow method?
Elbow method: A heuristic for picking the number of clusters: plot inertia against k and choose the point where the curve bends and further clusters give diminishing gains. It is subjective and sometimes shows no clear bend.
Elbow method: an example
Inertia drops steeply from k=1 to k=4 then flattens, so k=4 is chosen.
Related terms
More Classical ML algorithms terms
- Ensemble learning
- Entropy
- Euclidean distance
- Expectation-maximisation
- Explained variance ratio
- Extremely randomised trees
- Feature importance
- Gaussian mixture model
Where you learn it
Elbow method is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.