Generative adversarial networks (GANs) create synthetic data when applications need realistic new samples, expanded datasets, or reduced overfitting. They support uses including image generation, style transfer, and data augmentation. section 10.2 section 10.9
A GAN contains two neural networks trained adversarially. The generator creates synthetic data, while the discriminator distinguishes real data from generated data; their competition progressively improves realism. section 10.4 section 10.9
Choose variants according to the generation or transformation problem:
- Conditional GANs use additional information, such as class labels, to control generated attributes. section 10.4.4
- Deep convolutional GANs target high-quality image generation with convolutional layers. section 10.4.4
- CycleGANs map images between domains for style transfer and image-to-image translation. section 10.4.4
- BigGAN and StyleGAN generate high-resolution images while providing greater control over styles and attributes. section 10.4.4
Synthetic data for machine learning
A GAN can generate additional realistic samples to improve dataset quality and reduce overfitting risk, while image-focused variants address generation or domain-conversion tasks. section 10.9 section 10.4.4











