What is t-SNE and how does it work?
Updated May 16, 2026
Short answer
t-SNE is a nonlinear technique that preserves local structure in data visualization.
Deep explanation
It converts distances into probability distributions and minimizes divergence between high-dimensional and low-dimensional similarities using KL divergence.
Real-world example
Visualizing word embeddings in NLP.
Common mistakes
- Interpreting global distances in t-SNE plots.
Follow-up questions
- Why is t-SNE good for visualization?
- Does t-SNE preserve global structure?