Explain Core ML Concepts
Company: Snapchat
Role: Machine Learning Engineer
Category: Machine Learning
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Onsite
You are interviewing for a machine learning role. Answer the following core questions:
1. Explain the bias-variance decomposition of prediction error and how it relates to underfitting and overfitting.
2. Compare batch normalization and layer normalization: how each is computed, where each works well, and their trade-offs.
3. Explain why vanishing gradients happen in deep neural networks and describe practical ways to mitigate them.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates understanding of foundational machine learning and deep learning concepts, including the bias–variance decomposition, differences between batch normalization and layer normalization, and the causes of vanishing gradients.