Attention in the Human Brain and Its Applications in ML

Some objects grab our attention when we see them, even when we are not exactly looking for them. How precisely does this happen? And, more importantly, how can we incorporate this phenomena to improve our computer vision models? In this article, I will explain the process of paying attention to salient (i.e. Visual perception, saliency, and attention have been active research topics in neuroscience for decades. The discoveries and advancements that these researchers have made have helped AI researchers understand and mimic the process(es) in the human brain.