Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2026/iii/paper-218/5/c/solution

The neural-network likelihood is nonconvex, so optimization can stop at a local optimum or saddle rather than a global maximum. One hundred epochs may be insufficient for convergence. Mini-batch gradient noise together with a fixed positive learning rate can keep the iterates fluctuating around a stationary point rather than reaching it exactly. Any of these prevents the final parameters from being exact maximum-likelihood estimators.
Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.

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