{"id":15046,"date":"2019-09-25T16:14:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T16:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/q-learning\/"},"modified":"2019-09-25T16:14:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T16:14:57","slug":"q-learning","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning","title":{"rendered":"Q-learning"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_q-learning_mean\">What Does Q-learning Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Q-learning is a term for an algorithm structure representing model-free reinforcement learning. By evaluating policy and using stochastic modeling, Q-learning finds the best path forward in a Markov decision process.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_q-learning\">Techopedia Explains Q-learning<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The technical makeup of the Q-learning algorithm involves an agent, a set of states and a set of actions per state.<\/p>\n<p>The Q function uses weights for various steps in conjunction with a discount factor in order to value rewards.<\/p>\n<p>Although it may seem like a simple idea, Q-learning is of paramount importance in many types of reinforcement learning and deep learning models. One of the best examples is where deep Q-learning is used to help machine learning programs to learn game-play strategies in various types of video games, for example, in Atari games from the 1980s. Here a convolutional neural network takes samples of game-play in order to work up a stochastic model that will help the computer know how to play the game better over time.<\/p>\n<p>Q-learning has abundant potential for helping to advance artificial intelligence and machine learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Q-learning Mean? Q-learning is a term for an algorithm structure representing model-free reinforcement learning. By evaluating policy and using stochastic modeling, Q-learning finds the best path forward in a Markov decision process. Techopedia Explains Q-learning The technical makeup of the Q-learning algorithm involves an agent, a set of states and a set of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[270,256,269],"class_list":["post-15046","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-data-science","definitioncat-emerging-technology","definitioncat-machine-learning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Q-learning? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Q-learning and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q-learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Q-learning and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Q-learning\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-25T16:14:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning\"},\"wordCount\":179,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/32882\/q-learning\",\"name\":\"What is Q-learning? 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