Bayes' theorem

Probability · Formula · Not yet linked from a lesson

P(A∣B)=P(B∣A) P(A)P(B)P(A \mid B) = \frac{P(B \mid A)\, P(A)}{P(B)}

Flips a conditional probability around: it converts what you would expect to see given a hypothesis into how much the thing you saw should move your belief in it. Every probabilistic update in machine learning is a version of this.

Symbols

P(A∣B)P(A \mid B)
The posterior — belief in A after seeing B.
P(B∣A)P(B \mid A)
The likelihood — how expected B was under A.
P(A)P(A)
The prior — belief in A beforehand.
P(B)P(B)
The evidence, which normalises the result.
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