Chapter 5: Language Modeling
5.4 Long Short-Term Memory Networks (LSTMs)
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are a highly sophisticated type of recurrent neural network that have the remarkable ability to learn and retain information over an extended period of input data. This makes them particularly effective for tasks that require processing of sequences with long-term dependencies, where the context from many previous steps is still relevant in making predictions.
One of the most significant advantages of LSTMs is that unlike traditional feedforward neural networks, they have feedback connections. This allows them to be used as a "general-purpose computer" that can process not just individual data points, but also entire sequences of data. In fact, LSTMs are especially well-suited to making predictions based on time series data, which makes them particularly useful for natural language processing tasks.
Moreover, LSTMs have been proven to be extremely effective in a wide range of applications, including speech recognition, language translation, and even image captioning. Their ability to handle long-term dependencies and learn from sequences of data has made them an indispensable tool in a data scientist's toolkit. In addition, many researchers are actively working on improving the capabilities and performance of LSTMs, which means that we can expect even more exciting advancements in the field in the coming years.
5.4.1 Understanding LSTM/tu
LSTM units are a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) unit that differ in their architecture from traditional RNN units. While traditional RNN units pass output values to the next time step in the network, LSTM units have a cell state that runs through them like a "conveyor belt". This cell state acts as a memory that can retain information over time, and information can be added or removed from it through structures called gates.
The gates in LSTM are composed of a sigmoid neural net layer and a pointwise multiplication operation. The sigmoid layer outputs values between zero and one, determining the amount of information that should be let through. By regulating the amount of information that passes through the gates, the LSTM can selectively retain important information and discard irrelevant information, improving the accuracy of the network's predictions.
There are three types of gates within an LSTM unit:
Forget Gate
This gate is crucial to the function of the system, as it decides what information should be discarded and what should be retained. In order to make this decision, the gate takes into account information from both the previous hidden state as well as the current input.
By evaluating this information in relation to the current task at hand, the forget gate determines which pieces of information are most important for the system to retain and which can be safely discarded.
This process ensures that the system is able to make the most efficient use of its limited resources, leading to better overall performance and increased accuracy in its predictions and outputs.
Input Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in updating the cell state with new information. At its core, it consists of two parts: the "input gate layer" and the "candidate value layer." The input gate layer, which is essentially a sigmoid layer, helps us determine which values we should update. The candidate value layer, on the other hand, generates a vector of new candidate values, denoted by C̃t, that could potentially be added to the state.
By using the input gate, we are able to update our cell state in a way that takes into account new information that we receive. This is especially important in scenarios where we are dealing with sequential data, such as in natural language processing tasks. Without the input gate, we would be unable to effectively update our cell state and incorporate new information into our models.
Overall, the input gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture and plays a vital role in enabling us to work with sequential data in a meaningful way.
Output Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in the functioning of the LSTM network. It is responsible for deciding what the next hidden state should be based on the current input and the previous hidden state. By doing this, it ensures that the network can keep track of long-term dependencies in the input sequence.
The hidden state that is produced by the output gate is also used for making predictions, which is an important aspect of many machine learning tasks. Specifically, the hidden state is often used as a representation of the input sequence that can be fed to a classifier or regression model to make predictions about some target variable of interest.
Thus, the output gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture that enables it to perform well on a wide range of prediction tasks.
5.4.2 Applying LSTMs in Python with Keras
Now let's look at an example of using LSTMs in Python with Keras. For this example, we'll use a simple sentiment analysis task where we are given sentences (movie reviews) and we want to classify each sentence as either positive (1) or negative (0). We will use an LSTM layer in our model for this task.
Example:
from keras.preprocessing import sequence
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Dense, Embedding
from keras.layers import LSTM
from keras.datasets import imdb
# Number of words to consider as features
max_features = 20000
# Cut texts after this number of words (among top max_features most common words)
maxlen = 80
# Load data
(x_train, y_train), (x_test, y_test) = imdb.load_data(num_words=max_features)
# Pad sequences
x_train = sequence.pad_sequences(x_train, maxlen=maxlen)
x_test = sequence.pad_sequences(x_test, maxlen=maxlen)
# Build model
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(max_features, 128))
model.add(LSTM(128, dropout=0.2, recurrent_dropout=0.2))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
# Compile model
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy',
optimizer='adam',
metrics=['accuracy'])
# Train model
model.fit(x_train, y_train,
batch_size=32,
epochs=15,
validation_data=(x_test, y_test))In this example, we first load the IMDb dataset using the imdb.load_data() function in Keras. This dataset is already preprocessed, where all the words have numbers, and the reviews come in as a vector with the words that the review contains. The words are ordered by frequency, so the integer 1 is the most frequent word (the), the integer 2 is the second most frequent word, and so on.
We then pad our sequences to ensure that they are all the same length. This is done because the inputs to a neural network need to be the same size. The sequence.pad_sequences() function in Keras is used for this purpose. It ensures that all sequences in a list have the same length, by padding them with 0s if necessary.
Next, we create our model using the Sequential API in Keras. We add an embedding layer first, which will learn an embedding for all the words in our training set. This embedding will map each word to a continuous vector space where similar words are close together.
We then add an LSTM layer with 128 memory units. The dropout parameter is used to specify dropout regularization, where the proportion of connections randomly dropped out is equal to the dropout value specified. The recurrent_dropout parameter is the same, but for the recurrent connections within the LSTM layer.
Finally, we add a dense layer, which is the output layer for our binary classification problem. The sigmoid activation function is used here because it outputs probabilities of each class, which is what we want for a binary classification problem.
The model is then compiled with the binary cross entropy loss function (which is suitable for binary classification problems), and the Adam optimization algorithm.
Lastly, we fit the model to our training data for 15 epochs, with a batch size of 32. The validation data is the test data, which the model will evaluate on after each epoch.
The model.fit() function will return a history object, which you can use to plot training and validation accuracy and loss, to see how your model improved during training.
As we see, LSTMs provide a very powerful tool for dealing with sequence data. However, they can be a bit challenging to understand and use effectively, so don't be discouraged if they take a little bit of time to fully grasp!
5.4.3 Bidirectional LSTM
In traditional LSTMs, the information flows from the beginning of the sequence to the end. This flow of information has been observed to be useful in several applications. However, there are scenarios where the information at the end of the sequence is also useful for understanding the sequence itself. To tackle this, Bidirectional LSTMs have been introduced, which are a type of LSTM that can learn from both past (backwards) and future (forwards) sequences.
This is especially useful in NLP tasks where context from both the past and future is useful in understanding the data. Bidirectional LSTMs have been shown to improve the performance of several NLP tasks such as named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, and text classification.
They have been used in other applications such as speech recognition and image captioning, where the context from both past and future is also important. Bidirectional LSTMs are a powerful tool in the field of deep learning, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of sequential data.
Example:
A Bidirectional LSTM is implemented in Keras by using the Bidirectional wrapper on the LSTM layer. Here's a simple code example:
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Embedding, Bidirectional, LSTM, Dense
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(input_dim=5000, output_dim=32))
model.add(Bidirectional(LSTM(128)))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy', optimizer='adam', metrics=['accuracy'])
model.summary()In this example, we've used the Bidirectional wrapper on our LSTM layer, which will create a second, separate instance of the LSTM layer that will be fed input in reverse order. The output of these two LSTMs will then be concatenated together and passed on to the next layer.
In this way, the Bidirectional LSTM layer is capable of learning from both past and future context, which can lead to better performance on certain tasks. However, keep in mind that they also require more resources to train and predict, as essentially they double the number of LSTM layers.
5.4 Long Short-Term Memory Networks (LSTMs)
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are a highly sophisticated type of recurrent neural network that have the remarkable ability to learn and retain information over an extended period of input data. This makes them particularly effective for tasks that require processing of sequences with long-term dependencies, where the context from many previous steps is still relevant in making predictions.
One of the most significant advantages of LSTMs is that unlike traditional feedforward neural networks, they have feedback connections. This allows them to be used as a "general-purpose computer" that can process not just individual data points, but also entire sequences of data. In fact, LSTMs are especially well-suited to making predictions based on time series data, which makes them particularly useful for natural language processing tasks.
Moreover, LSTMs have been proven to be extremely effective in a wide range of applications, including speech recognition, language translation, and even image captioning. Their ability to handle long-term dependencies and learn from sequences of data has made them an indispensable tool in a data scientist's toolkit. In addition, many researchers are actively working on improving the capabilities and performance of LSTMs, which means that we can expect even more exciting advancements in the field in the coming years.
5.4.1 Understanding LSTM/tu
LSTM units are a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) unit that differ in their architecture from traditional RNN units. While traditional RNN units pass output values to the next time step in the network, LSTM units have a cell state that runs through them like a "conveyor belt". This cell state acts as a memory that can retain information over time, and information can be added or removed from it through structures called gates.
The gates in LSTM are composed of a sigmoid neural net layer and a pointwise multiplication operation. The sigmoid layer outputs values between zero and one, determining the amount of information that should be let through. By regulating the amount of information that passes through the gates, the LSTM can selectively retain important information and discard irrelevant information, improving the accuracy of the network's predictions.
There are three types of gates within an LSTM unit:
Forget Gate
This gate is crucial to the function of the system, as it decides what information should be discarded and what should be retained. In order to make this decision, the gate takes into account information from both the previous hidden state as well as the current input.
By evaluating this information in relation to the current task at hand, the forget gate determines which pieces of information are most important for the system to retain and which can be safely discarded.
This process ensures that the system is able to make the most efficient use of its limited resources, leading to better overall performance and increased accuracy in its predictions and outputs.
Input Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in updating the cell state with new information. At its core, it consists of two parts: the "input gate layer" and the "candidate value layer." The input gate layer, which is essentially a sigmoid layer, helps us determine which values we should update. The candidate value layer, on the other hand, generates a vector of new candidate values, denoted by C̃t, that could potentially be added to the state.
By using the input gate, we are able to update our cell state in a way that takes into account new information that we receive. This is especially important in scenarios where we are dealing with sequential data, such as in natural language processing tasks. Without the input gate, we would be unable to effectively update our cell state and incorporate new information into our models.
Overall, the input gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture and plays a vital role in enabling us to work with sequential data in a meaningful way.
Output Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in the functioning of the LSTM network. It is responsible for deciding what the next hidden state should be based on the current input and the previous hidden state. By doing this, it ensures that the network can keep track of long-term dependencies in the input sequence.
The hidden state that is produced by the output gate is also used for making predictions, which is an important aspect of many machine learning tasks. Specifically, the hidden state is often used as a representation of the input sequence that can be fed to a classifier or regression model to make predictions about some target variable of interest.
Thus, the output gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture that enables it to perform well on a wide range of prediction tasks.
5.4.2 Applying LSTMs in Python with Keras
Now let's look at an example of using LSTMs in Python with Keras. For this example, we'll use a simple sentiment analysis task where we are given sentences (movie reviews) and we want to classify each sentence as either positive (1) or negative (0). We will use an LSTM layer in our model for this task.
Example:
from keras.preprocessing import sequence
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Dense, Embedding
from keras.layers import LSTM
from keras.datasets import imdb
# Number of words to consider as features
max_features = 20000
# Cut texts after this number of words (among top max_features most common words)
maxlen = 80
# Load data
(x_train, y_train), (x_test, y_test) = imdb.load_data(num_words=max_features)
# Pad sequences
x_train = sequence.pad_sequences(x_train, maxlen=maxlen)
x_test = sequence.pad_sequences(x_test, maxlen=maxlen)
# Build model
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(max_features, 128))
model.add(LSTM(128, dropout=0.2, recurrent_dropout=0.2))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
# Compile model
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy',
optimizer='adam',
metrics=['accuracy'])
# Train model
model.fit(x_train, y_train,
batch_size=32,
epochs=15,
validation_data=(x_test, y_test))In this example, we first load the IMDb dataset using the imdb.load_data() function in Keras. This dataset is already preprocessed, where all the words have numbers, and the reviews come in as a vector with the words that the review contains. The words are ordered by frequency, so the integer 1 is the most frequent word (the), the integer 2 is the second most frequent word, and so on.
We then pad our sequences to ensure that they are all the same length. This is done because the inputs to a neural network need to be the same size. The sequence.pad_sequences() function in Keras is used for this purpose. It ensures that all sequences in a list have the same length, by padding them with 0s if necessary.
Next, we create our model using the Sequential API in Keras. We add an embedding layer first, which will learn an embedding for all the words in our training set. This embedding will map each word to a continuous vector space where similar words are close together.
We then add an LSTM layer with 128 memory units. The dropout parameter is used to specify dropout regularization, where the proportion of connections randomly dropped out is equal to the dropout value specified. The recurrent_dropout parameter is the same, but for the recurrent connections within the LSTM layer.
Finally, we add a dense layer, which is the output layer for our binary classification problem. The sigmoid activation function is used here because it outputs probabilities of each class, which is what we want for a binary classification problem.
The model is then compiled with the binary cross entropy loss function (which is suitable for binary classification problems), and the Adam optimization algorithm.
Lastly, we fit the model to our training data for 15 epochs, with a batch size of 32. The validation data is the test data, which the model will evaluate on after each epoch.
The model.fit() function will return a history object, which you can use to plot training and validation accuracy and loss, to see how your model improved during training.
As we see, LSTMs provide a very powerful tool for dealing with sequence data. However, they can be a bit challenging to understand and use effectively, so don't be discouraged if they take a little bit of time to fully grasp!
5.4.3 Bidirectional LSTM
In traditional LSTMs, the information flows from the beginning of the sequence to the end. This flow of information has been observed to be useful in several applications. However, there are scenarios where the information at the end of the sequence is also useful for understanding the sequence itself. To tackle this, Bidirectional LSTMs have been introduced, which are a type of LSTM that can learn from both past (backwards) and future (forwards) sequences.
This is especially useful in NLP tasks where context from both the past and future is useful in understanding the data. Bidirectional LSTMs have been shown to improve the performance of several NLP tasks such as named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, and text classification.
They have been used in other applications such as speech recognition and image captioning, where the context from both past and future is also important. Bidirectional LSTMs are a powerful tool in the field of deep learning, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of sequential data.
Example:
A Bidirectional LSTM is implemented in Keras by using the Bidirectional wrapper on the LSTM layer. Here's a simple code example:
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Embedding, Bidirectional, LSTM, Dense
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(input_dim=5000, output_dim=32))
model.add(Bidirectional(LSTM(128)))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy', optimizer='adam', metrics=['accuracy'])
model.summary()In this example, we've used the Bidirectional wrapper on our LSTM layer, which will create a second, separate instance of the LSTM layer that will be fed input in reverse order. The output of these two LSTMs will then be concatenated together and passed on to the next layer.
In this way, the Bidirectional LSTM layer is capable of learning from both past and future context, which can lead to better performance on certain tasks. However, keep in mind that they also require more resources to train and predict, as essentially they double the number of LSTM layers.
5.4 Long Short-Term Memory Networks (LSTMs)
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are a highly sophisticated type of recurrent neural network that have the remarkable ability to learn and retain information over an extended period of input data. This makes them particularly effective for tasks that require processing of sequences with long-term dependencies, where the context from many previous steps is still relevant in making predictions.
One of the most significant advantages of LSTMs is that unlike traditional feedforward neural networks, they have feedback connections. This allows them to be used as a "general-purpose computer" that can process not just individual data points, but also entire sequences of data. In fact, LSTMs are especially well-suited to making predictions based on time series data, which makes them particularly useful for natural language processing tasks.
Moreover, LSTMs have been proven to be extremely effective in a wide range of applications, including speech recognition, language translation, and even image captioning. Their ability to handle long-term dependencies and learn from sequences of data has made them an indispensable tool in a data scientist's toolkit. In addition, many researchers are actively working on improving the capabilities and performance of LSTMs, which means that we can expect even more exciting advancements in the field in the coming years.
5.4.1 Understanding LSTM/tu
LSTM units are a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) unit that differ in their architecture from traditional RNN units. While traditional RNN units pass output values to the next time step in the network, LSTM units have a cell state that runs through them like a "conveyor belt". This cell state acts as a memory that can retain information over time, and information can be added or removed from it through structures called gates.
The gates in LSTM are composed of a sigmoid neural net layer and a pointwise multiplication operation. The sigmoid layer outputs values between zero and one, determining the amount of information that should be let through. By regulating the amount of information that passes through the gates, the LSTM can selectively retain important information and discard irrelevant information, improving the accuracy of the network's predictions.
There are three types of gates within an LSTM unit:
Forget Gate
This gate is crucial to the function of the system, as it decides what information should be discarded and what should be retained. In order to make this decision, the gate takes into account information from both the previous hidden state as well as the current input.
By evaluating this information in relation to the current task at hand, the forget gate determines which pieces of information are most important for the system to retain and which can be safely discarded.
This process ensures that the system is able to make the most efficient use of its limited resources, leading to better overall performance and increased accuracy in its predictions and outputs.
Input Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in updating the cell state with new information. At its core, it consists of two parts: the "input gate layer" and the "candidate value layer." The input gate layer, which is essentially a sigmoid layer, helps us determine which values we should update. The candidate value layer, on the other hand, generates a vector of new candidate values, denoted by C̃t, that could potentially be added to the state.
By using the input gate, we are able to update our cell state in a way that takes into account new information that we receive. This is especially important in scenarios where we are dealing with sequential data, such as in natural language processing tasks. Without the input gate, we would be unable to effectively update our cell state and incorporate new information into our models.
Overall, the input gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture and plays a vital role in enabling us to work with sequential data in a meaningful way.
Output Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in the functioning of the LSTM network. It is responsible for deciding what the next hidden state should be based on the current input and the previous hidden state. By doing this, it ensures that the network can keep track of long-term dependencies in the input sequence.
The hidden state that is produced by the output gate is also used for making predictions, which is an important aspect of many machine learning tasks. Specifically, the hidden state is often used as a representation of the input sequence that can be fed to a classifier or regression model to make predictions about some target variable of interest.
Thus, the output gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture that enables it to perform well on a wide range of prediction tasks.
5.4.2 Applying LSTMs in Python with Keras
Now let's look at an example of using LSTMs in Python with Keras. For this example, we'll use a simple sentiment analysis task where we are given sentences (movie reviews) and we want to classify each sentence as either positive (1) or negative (0). We will use an LSTM layer in our model for this task.
Example:
from keras.preprocessing import sequence
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Dense, Embedding
from keras.layers import LSTM
from keras.datasets import imdb
# Number of words to consider as features
max_features = 20000
# Cut texts after this number of words (among top max_features most common words)
maxlen = 80
# Load data
(x_train, y_train), (x_test, y_test) = imdb.load_data(num_words=max_features)
# Pad sequences
x_train = sequence.pad_sequences(x_train, maxlen=maxlen)
x_test = sequence.pad_sequences(x_test, maxlen=maxlen)
# Build model
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(max_features, 128))
model.add(LSTM(128, dropout=0.2, recurrent_dropout=0.2))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
# Compile model
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy',
optimizer='adam',
metrics=['accuracy'])
# Train model
model.fit(x_train, y_train,
batch_size=32,
epochs=15,
validation_data=(x_test, y_test))In this example, we first load the IMDb dataset using the imdb.load_data() function in Keras. This dataset is already preprocessed, where all the words have numbers, and the reviews come in as a vector with the words that the review contains. The words are ordered by frequency, so the integer 1 is the most frequent word (the), the integer 2 is the second most frequent word, and so on.
We then pad our sequences to ensure that they are all the same length. This is done because the inputs to a neural network need to be the same size. The sequence.pad_sequences() function in Keras is used for this purpose. It ensures that all sequences in a list have the same length, by padding them with 0s if necessary.
Next, we create our model using the Sequential API in Keras. We add an embedding layer first, which will learn an embedding for all the words in our training set. This embedding will map each word to a continuous vector space where similar words are close together.
We then add an LSTM layer with 128 memory units. The dropout parameter is used to specify dropout regularization, where the proportion of connections randomly dropped out is equal to the dropout value specified. The recurrent_dropout parameter is the same, but for the recurrent connections within the LSTM layer.
Finally, we add a dense layer, which is the output layer for our binary classification problem. The sigmoid activation function is used here because it outputs probabilities of each class, which is what we want for a binary classification problem.
The model is then compiled with the binary cross entropy loss function (which is suitable for binary classification problems), and the Adam optimization algorithm.
Lastly, we fit the model to our training data for 15 epochs, with a batch size of 32. The validation data is the test data, which the model will evaluate on after each epoch.
The model.fit() function will return a history object, which you can use to plot training and validation accuracy and loss, to see how your model improved during training.
As we see, LSTMs provide a very powerful tool for dealing with sequence data. However, they can be a bit challenging to understand and use effectively, so don't be discouraged if they take a little bit of time to fully grasp!
5.4.3 Bidirectional LSTM
In traditional LSTMs, the information flows from the beginning of the sequence to the end. This flow of information has been observed to be useful in several applications. However, there are scenarios where the information at the end of the sequence is also useful for understanding the sequence itself. To tackle this, Bidirectional LSTMs have been introduced, which are a type of LSTM that can learn from both past (backwards) and future (forwards) sequences.
This is especially useful in NLP tasks where context from both the past and future is useful in understanding the data. Bidirectional LSTMs have been shown to improve the performance of several NLP tasks such as named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, and text classification.
They have been used in other applications such as speech recognition and image captioning, where the context from both past and future is also important. Bidirectional LSTMs are a powerful tool in the field of deep learning, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of sequential data.
Example:
A Bidirectional LSTM is implemented in Keras by using the Bidirectional wrapper on the LSTM layer. Here's a simple code example:
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Embedding, Bidirectional, LSTM, Dense
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(input_dim=5000, output_dim=32))
model.add(Bidirectional(LSTM(128)))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy', optimizer='adam', metrics=['accuracy'])
model.summary()In this example, we've used the Bidirectional wrapper on our LSTM layer, which will create a second, separate instance of the LSTM layer that will be fed input in reverse order. The output of these two LSTMs will then be concatenated together and passed on to the next layer.
In this way, the Bidirectional LSTM layer is capable of learning from both past and future context, which can lead to better performance on certain tasks. However, keep in mind that they also require more resources to train and predict, as essentially they double the number of LSTM layers.
5.4 Long Short-Term Memory Networks (LSTMs)
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks are a highly sophisticated type of recurrent neural network that have the remarkable ability to learn and retain information over an extended period of input data. This makes them particularly effective for tasks that require processing of sequences with long-term dependencies, where the context from many previous steps is still relevant in making predictions.
One of the most significant advantages of LSTMs is that unlike traditional feedforward neural networks, they have feedback connections. This allows them to be used as a "general-purpose computer" that can process not just individual data points, but also entire sequences of data. In fact, LSTMs are especially well-suited to making predictions based on time series data, which makes them particularly useful for natural language processing tasks.
Moreover, LSTMs have been proven to be extremely effective in a wide range of applications, including speech recognition, language translation, and even image captioning. Their ability to handle long-term dependencies and learn from sequences of data has made them an indispensable tool in a data scientist's toolkit. In addition, many researchers are actively working on improving the capabilities and performance of LSTMs, which means that we can expect even more exciting advancements in the field in the coming years.
5.4.1 Understanding LSTM/tu
LSTM units are a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) unit that differ in their architecture from traditional RNN units. While traditional RNN units pass output values to the next time step in the network, LSTM units have a cell state that runs through them like a "conveyor belt". This cell state acts as a memory that can retain information over time, and information can be added or removed from it through structures called gates.
The gates in LSTM are composed of a sigmoid neural net layer and a pointwise multiplication operation. The sigmoid layer outputs values between zero and one, determining the amount of information that should be let through. By regulating the amount of information that passes through the gates, the LSTM can selectively retain important information and discard irrelevant information, improving the accuracy of the network's predictions.
There are three types of gates within an LSTM unit:
Forget Gate
This gate is crucial to the function of the system, as it decides what information should be discarded and what should be retained. In order to make this decision, the gate takes into account information from both the previous hidden state as well as the current input.
By evaluating this information in relation to the current task at hand, the forget gate determines which pieces of information are most important for the system to retain and which can be safely discarded.
This process ensures that the system is able to make the most efficient use of its limited resources, leading to better overall performance and increased accuracy in its predictions and outputs.
Input Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in updating the cell state with new information. At its core, it consists of two parts: the "input gate layer" and the "candidate value layer." The input gate layer, which is essentially a sigmoid layer, helps us determine which values we should update. The candidate value layer, on the other hand, generates a vector of new candidate values, denoted by C̃t, that could potentially be added to the state.
By using the input gate, we are able to update our cell state in a way that takes into account new information that we receive. This is especially important in scenarios where we are dealing with sequential data, such as in natural language processing tasks. Without the input gate, we would be unable to effectively update our cell state and incorporate new information into our models.
Overall, the input gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture and plays a vital role in enabling us to work with sequential data in a meaningful way.
Output Gate
This gate plays a crucial role in the functioning of the LSTM network. It is responsible for deciding what the next hidden state should be based on the current input and the previous hidden state. By doing this, it ensures that the network can keep track of long-term dependencies in the input sequence.
The hidden state that is produced by the output gate is also used for making predictions, which is an important aspect of many machine learning tasks. Specifically, the hidden state is often used as a representation of the input sequence that can be fed to a classifier or regression model to make predictions about some target variable of interest.
Thus, the output gate is a key component of the LSTM architecture that enables it to perform well on a wide range of prediction tasks.
5.4.2 Applying LSTMs in Python with Keras
Now let's look at an example of using LSTMs in Python with Keras. For this example, we'll use a simple sentiment analysis task where we are given sentences (movie reviews) and we want to classify each sentence as either positive (1) or negative (0). We will use an LSTM layer in our model for this task.
Example:
from keras.preprocessing import sequence
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Dense, Embedding
from keras.layers import LSTM
from keras.datasets import imdb
# Number of words to consider as features
max_features = 20000
# Cut texts after this number of words (among top max_features most common words)
maxlen = 80
# Load data
(x_train, y_train), (x_test, y_test) = imdb.load_data(num_words=max_features)
# Pad sequences
x_train = sequence.pad_sequences(x_train, maxlen=maxlen)
x_test = sequence.pad_sequences(x_test, maxlen=maxlen)
# Build model
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(max_features, 128))
model.add(LSTM(128, dropout=0.2, recurrent_dropout=0.2))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
# Compile model
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy',
optimizer='adam',
metrics=['accuracy'])
# Train model
model.fit(x_train, y_train,
batch_size=32,
epochs=15,
validation_data=(x_test, y_test))In this example, we first load the IMDb dataset using the imdb.load_data() function in Keras. This dataset is already preprocessed, where all the words have numbers, and the reviews come in as a vector with the words that the review contains. The words are ordered by frequency, so the integer 1 is the most frequent word (the), the integer 2 is the second most frequent word, and so on.
We then pad our sequences to ensure that they are all the same length. This is done because the inputs to a neural network need to be the same size. The sequence.pad_sequences() function in Keras is used for this purpose. It ensures that all sequences in a list have the same length, by padding them with 0s if necessary.
Next, we create our model using the Sequential API in Keras. We add an embedding layer first, which will learn an embedding for all the words in our training set. This embedding will map each word to a continuous vector space where similar words are close together.
We then add an LSTM layer with 128 memory units. The dropout parameter is used to specify dropout regularization, where the proportion of connections randomly dropped out is equal to the dropout value specified. The recurrent_dropout parameter is the same, but for the recurrent connections within the LSTM layer.
Finally, we add a dense layer, which is the output layer for our binary classification problem. The sigmoid activation function is used here because it outputs probabilities of each class, which is what we want for a binary classification problem.
The model is then compiled with the binary cross entropy loss function (which is suitable for binary classification problems), and the Adam optimization algorithm.
Lastly, we fit the model to our training data for 15 epochs, with a batch size of 32. The validation data is the test data, which the model will evaluate on after each epoch.
The model.fit() function will return a history object, which you can use to plot training and validation accuracy and loss, to see how your model improved during training.
As we see, LSTMs provide a very powerful tool for dealing with sequence data. However, they can be a bit challenging to understand and use effectively, so don't be discouraged if they take a little bit of time to fully grasp!
5.4.3 Bidirectional LSTM
In traditional LSTMs, the information flows from the beginning of the sequence to the end. This flow of information has been observed to be useful in several applications. However, there are scenarios where the information at the end of the sequence is also useful for understanding the sequence itself. To tackle this, Bidirectional LSTMs have been introduced, which are a type of LSTM that can learn from both past (backwards) and future (forwards) sequences.
This is especially useful in NLP tasks where context from both the past and future is useful in understanding the data. Bidirectional LSTMs have been shown to improve the performance of several NLP tasks such as named entity recognition, sentiment analysis, and text classification.
They have been used in other applications such as speech recognition and image captioning, where the context from both past and future is also important. Bidirectional LSTMs are a powerful tool in the field of deep learning, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of sequential data.
Example:
A Bidirectional LSTM is implemented in Keras by using the Bidirectional wrapper on the LSTM layer. Here's a simple code example:
from keras.models import Sequential
from keras.layers import Embedding, Bidirectional, LSTM, Dense
model = Sequential()
model.add(Embedding(input_dim=5000, output_dim=32))
model.add(Bidirectional(LSTM(128)))
model.add(Dense(1, activation='sigmoid'))
model.compile(loss='binary_crossentropy', optimizer='adam', metrics=['accuracy'])
model.summary()In this example, we've used the Bidirectional wrapper on our LSTM layer, which will create a second, separate instance of the LSTM layer that will be fed input in reverse order. The output of these two LSTMs will then be concatenated together and passed on to the next layer.
In this way, the Bidirectional LSTM layer is capable of learning from both past and future context, which can lead to better performance on certain tasks. However, keep in mind that they also require more resources to train and predict, as essentially they double the number of LSTM layers.