AI engineering glossary · ML fundamentals
What is feature?
Feature (also called Predictor, Independent variable): A single measurable input property that a model uses to make a prediction. Features can be numbers, categories, text pieces or pixels, and together form the description of each example. Choosing informative features often matters more to accuracy than choosing a fancier algorithm.
Feature: an example
For predicting house rent, features could be area in square feet, number of bedrooms, floor number and distance to the nearest metro station.
Related terms
More ML fundamentals terms
- Feature space
- Generalisation
- Generalisation error
- Generalisation gap
- Generative model
- Grid search
- Ground truth
- Group k-fold
Where you learn it
Feature is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.