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Please, please do not call activation functions neurons! A neuron is a name for a type of cell in animal brains which has several variants, many modalities of behaviour (chemical, electrical, temporal) and which we are making many new discoveries about as our technology advances.

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Does it also bother you when people talk about using a "mouse" to move "files" to their "desktop?"

Only if they use the analogy to do things like convince people that mice carry little red lights on their tummies.

An activation function is not the only part of an artificial neuron, there's also the weighted input aggregation. Also, it's well known and understood that artificial neurons are biologically inspired, but are not in fact, neurons themselves.

It is amongst people who are interested in such things, but it isn't amongst journalists and many people who read the popular press and get the wrong end of lots of sticks as a result.

That's their fault for not doing their due diligence. And what does it matter to the general public learning of these things through journalists anyway? It's not like they are doing anything with this knowledge that requires precision. It's all intellectual excitement and cocktail party fodder to them.

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