Dictionary entry
concept drift
also concept drift detection
Definition of concept drift
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: a change over time in the statistical relationship between a model's inputs and the outcome it is meant to predict, causing patterns learned from earlier data to become less reliable
- The fraud detector suffered concept drift when criminals changed their behavior after the model was deployed.
- A sudden fall in accuracy triggered a concept-drift investigation rather than an immediate retraining run.
Two meanings, one word
In everyday English
Drift is a gradual movement away from an original position or condition.
In AI
A change over time in the statistical relationship between a model's inputs and the outcome it is meant to predict, causing patterns learned from earlier data to become…
Origin & history
The phrase appeared in machine-learning research by 1986 in Jeffrey Schlimmer and Richard Granger's work on tracking concept drift. It later became a central term in data-stream and online-learning research.
Test yourself
Which of these is the meaning of concept drift?
Cite this entry
"Concept drift." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/concept-drift/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.