Title: Activation Ensembles for Deep Neural Networks,
Abstract: Many activation functions have been proposed in the past, but selecting an
adequate one requires trial and error. We propose a new methodology of
designing activation functions within a neural network at each layer. We call
this technique an "activation ensemble" because it allows the use of multiple
activation functions at each layer. This is done by introducing additional
variables, $\alpha$, at each activation layer of a network to allow for
multiple activation functions to be active at each neuron. By design,
activations with larger $\alpha$ values at a neuron is equivalent to having the
largest magnitude. Hence, those higher magnitude activations are "chosen" by
the network. We implement the activation ensembles on a variety of datasets
using an array of Feed Forward and Convolutional Neural Networks. By using the
activation ensemble, we achieve superior results compared to traditional
techniques. In addition, because of the flexibility of this methodology, we
more deeply explore activation functions and the features that they capture.