Beginner · Research

Baseline Model

Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.

TL;DR. A simple reference model used to put more sophisticated approaches in context.

Technical Definition

A simple reference model used to put more sophisticated approaches in context.

How it works

A linear regression, a TF-IDF + logistic classifier, or a 'predict the majority class' rule often reveal that the fancy model isn't actually adding much. Skipping baselines is the most common rookie mistake in applied ML.

Related Concepts

• Accuracy — The fraction of predictions a model gets correct on a labeled dataset.
• Ablation Study — An experiment that removes one component of a system at a time to measure its individual contribution.
• Benchmark — A standardized dataset and evaluation protocol used to compare models.