# Occam's Razor and PAC-learning

DevFeed: [Occam's Razor and PAC-learning](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/occam-s-razor-and-pac-learning-40366.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.jeremykun.com/2014/09/19/occams-razor-and-pac-learning/>)

Published: 2014-09-19T10:00:47Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Jeremy Kun](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jeremy-kun.md>)

Topics: [Occam's razor machine learning](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/occam-s-razor-machine-learning.md>), [Learning](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/learning.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>)

Tags: [chernoff](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/chernoff.md>), [chernoff-bound](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/chernoff-bound.md>), [computational-learning-theory](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/computational-learning-theory.md>), [learning-theory](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/learning-theory.md>), [occam-s-razor](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/occam-s-razor.md>), [pac-learning](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pac-learning.md>), [vc-dimension](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vc-dimension.md>)

## AI overview

This tutorial develops a simple PAC-learning theorem for a finite hypothesis class. It explains that if a hypothesis consistent with observed data can always be found, the class can be learned efficiently, and it uses the Chernoff-Hoeffding bound to quantify the sample requirement for achieving low error.

## Source excerpt

So far our discussion of learning theory has been seeing the definition of PAC-learning, tinkering with it, and seeing simple examples of learnable concept classes. We've said that our real interest is in proving big theorems about what big classes of problems can and can't be learned. One major tool for doing this with PAC is the concept of VC-dimension, but to set the stage we're going to prove a simpler theorem that gives a nice picture of PAC-learning when your hypothesis class is small.