Use Cases of Neural Network

What are Neural Networks?

Neural networks are a set of algorithms, they are designed to mimic the human brain, that is designed to recognize patterns. They interpret data through a form of machine perception by labeling or clustering raw input data.

Let’s take a moment to consider the human brain. Made up of a network of neurons, the brain is a very complex structure.

It’s capable of quickly assessing and understanding the context of numerous different situations. Computers struggle to react to situations in a similar way. Artificial Neural Networks are a way of overcoming this limitation.

First developed in the 1940s Artificial Neural Networks attempt to simulate the way the brain operates.

Sometimes called perceptrons, an Artificial Neural Network is a hardware or software system.

Some networks are a combination of the two.

Consisting of a network of layers this system is patterned to replicate the way the neurons in the brain operate.

The network comprises an input layer, where data is entered, and an output layer.

The output layer is where processed information is presented.

Connecting the two is a hidden layer or layers.

The hidden layers consist of units that transform input data into useful information for the output layer to present.

In addition to replicating the human decision making progress Artificial Neural Networks allow computers to learn.

Their structure also allows ANN’s to reliably and quickly identify patterns that are too complex for humans to identify.

Artificial Neural Networks also allow us to classify and cluster large amounts of data quickly.

5 Companies Using Machine Learning in Cool Ways

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among the most significant technological developments in recent history. Few fields promise to “disrupt” (to borrow a favored term) life as we know it quite like machine learning, but many of the applications of machine learning technology go unseen.

Want to see some real examples of machine learning in action? Here are 5 companies that are using the power of machine learning in new and exciting ways (plus a glimpse into the future of machine learning).

1. Yelp – Image Curation at Scale 

Few things compare to trying out a new restaurant then going online to complain about it afterwards. This is among the many reasons why Yelp is so popular (and useful).

While Yelp might not seem to be a tech company at first glance, Yelp is leveraging machine learning to improve users’ experience.

Since images are almost as vital to Yelp as user reviews themselves, it should come as little surprise that Yelp is always trying to improve how it handles image processing.

This is why Yelp turned to machine learning a couple of years ago when it first implemented its picture classification technology. Yelp’s machine learning algorithms help the company’s human staff to compile, categorize, and label images more efficiently – no small feat when you’re dealing with tens of millions of photos.

2. Pinterest – Improved Content Discovery

Whether you’re a hardcore pinner or have never used the site before, Pinterest occupies a curious place in the social media ecosystem. Since Pinterest’s primary function is to curate existing content, it makes sense that investing in technologies that can make this process more effective would be a priority – and that’s definitely the case at Pinterest.

In 2015, Pinterest acquired Kosei, a machine learning company that specialized in the commercial applications of machine learning tech (specifically, content discovery and recommendation algorithms).

Today, machine learning touches virtually every aspect of Pinterest’s business operations, from spam moderation and content discovery to advertising monetization and reducing churn of email newsletter subscribers. Pretty cool.

3. Facebook – Chatbot Army

Although Facebook’s Messenger service is still a little…contentious (people have very strong feelings about messaging apps, it seems), it’s one of the most exciting aspects of the world’s largest social media platform. That’s because Messenger has become something of an experimental testing laboratory for chatbots.

Any developer can create and submit a chatbot for inclusion in Facebook Messenger. This means that companies with a strong emphasis on customer service and retention can leverage chatbots, even if they’re a tiny startup with limited engineering resources.

Of course, that’s not the only application of machine learning that Facebook is interested in. AI applications are being used at Facebook to filter out spam and poor-quality content, and the company is also researching computer vision algorithms that can “read” images to visually impaired people.

4. Twitter – Curated Timelines

Twitter has been at the center of numerous controversies of late (not least of which were the much-derided decisions to round out everyone’s avatars and changes to the way people are tagged in @ replies), but one of the more contentious changes we’ve seen on Twitter was the move toward an algorithmic feed.

Whether you prefer to have Twitter show you “the best tweets first” (whatever that means) or as a reasonably chronological timeline, these changes are being driven by Twitter’s machine learning technology. Twitter’s AI evaluates each tweet in real time and “scores” them according to various metrics.

Ultimately, Twitter’s algorithms then display tweets that are likely to drive the most engagement. This is determined on an individual basis; Twitter’s machine learning tech makes those decisions based on your individual preferences, resulting in the algorithmically curated feeds, which kinda suck if we’re being completely honest. (Does anybody actually prefer the algorithmic feed? Tell me why in the comments, you lovely weirdos.)

5. Google – Neural Networks and ‘Machines That Dream’

These days, it’s probably easier to list areas of scientific R&D that Google – or, rather, parent company Alphabet – isn’t working on, rather than trying to summarize Google’s technological ambition.

Needless to say, Google has been very busy in recent years, having diversified into such fields as anti-aging technology, medical devices, and – perhaps most exciting for tech nerds – neural networks.

The most visible developments in Google’s neural network research has been the DeepMind network, the “machine that dreams.” It’s the same network that produced those psychedelic images everybody was talking about a while back.

According to Google, the company is researching “virtually all aspects of machine learning,” which will lead to exciting developments in what Google calls “classical algorithms” as well as other applications including natural language processing, speech translation, and search ranking and prediction systems.