[1] The goal of this process is to maintain accuracy of the network while increasing its efficiency.
This can be done to reduce the computational resources required to run the neural network.
A biological process of synaptic pruning takes place in the brain of mammals during development[2] (see also Neural Darwinism).
A basic algorithm for pruning is as follows:[3][4] Most work on neural network pruning focuses on removing weights, namely, setting their values to zero.
Early work suggested to also change the values of non-pruned weights.