Technical GlossaryComputer Vision

Zero-Shot Image Classification

An approach in which a model recognizes new classes without additional training through textual descriptions or shared representation space.

Zero-shot image classification represents a move away from fixed label lists toward more flexible visual intelligence. The model makes decisions by matching class names or descriptions with visual representations in a shared space. This is especially valuable for dynamic category lists, product catalogs, and open-world recognition problems. It is one of the most visible applications of the vision-language model family.