Machine learning: What every risk and compliance professional needs to know

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that utilizes algorithms and computer power to sharpen the judgments organizations make about voluminous and disparate data. Simply put, it allows machines to learn how to perform certain tasks without being explicitly programmed to do so. Machine learning already permeates virtually every facet of our lives--it is used every day for image and speech recognition, digital assistants, cyber protection, consumer marketing, medical diagnoses, ferreting out proscribed content on social media platforms, ride-sharing apps, law enforcement, and in countless other applications. Machines could learn how to detect fraud simply by being provided with examples of previously seen fraud cases, and without the need for manually coded business rules. Machine learning helps optimize the mix between humans and machines in an intelligent, accretive process that "learns" as it goes along.