In information technology (IT), a neural network is a system of hardware and/or software patterned after the operation of neurons in the human brain. Neural networks -- also called artificial neural networks -- are a variety of deep learning technology, which also falls under the umbrella of artificial intelligence, or AI.
Commercial applications of these technologies generally focus on solving complex signal processing or pattern recognition problems. Examples of significant commercial applications since 2000 include handwriting recognition for check processing, speech-to-text transcription, oil-exploration data analysis, weather prediction and facial recognition.
How artificial neural networks work
A neural network usually involves a large number of processors operating in parallel and arranged in tiers. The first tier receives the raw input information -- analogous to optic nerves in human visual processing. Each successive tier receives the output from the tier preceding it, rather than from the raw input -- in the same way neurons further from the optic nerve receive signals from those closer to it. The last tier produces the output of the system.
Each processing node has its own small sphere of knowledge, including what it has seen and any rules it was originally programmed with or developed for itself. The tiers are highly interconnected, which means each node in tier n will be connected to many nodes in tier n-1-- its inputs -- and in tier n+1, which provides input for those nodes. There may be one or multiple nodes in the output layer, from which the answer it produces can be read.
Neural networks are notable for being adaptive, which means they modify themselves as they learn from initial training and subsequent runs provide more information about the world. The most basic learning model is centered on weighting the input streams, which is how each node weights the importance of input from each of its predecessors. Inputs that contribute to getting right answers are weighted higher.
Applications of artificial neural networks
Image recognition was one of the first areas to which neural networks were successfully applied, but the technology uses have expanded to many more areas, including:
- Chatbots
- Natural language processing, translation and language generation
- Stock market prediction
- Delivery driver route planning and optimization
- Drug discovery and development
EmoticonEmoticon