Machine learning and artificial intelligence in a brave new world

But as machine learning gets deeper, we are embarking on the next step towards increasingly sophisticated AI: deep learning. The sophisticated analysis of deep learning is achieved through neural networks, so called because they loosely mimic the interconnected structure of the human brain to provide a many-layered functionality. These neural networks are so sophisticated, in fact, that the path a machine takes to reach its conclusion is not yet readily understood. Deep learning uses huge, self-improving neural networks -- only possible and more widely accessible because of recent advances in computing power -- to achieve extremely complex pattern spotting like recognizing speech or images. "Deep learning is only going to be used when it really makes sense--where it can quickly find intricate, variable relationships hidden in large volumes of data that we haven't been able to pull out in any other way yet," explains Mary Beth Ainsworth, global product marketing manager of artificial intelligence and text analytics at SAS. "But deep learning means a machine can look at a problem through a completely different analytic lens than its human counterpart. It could be used to tackle all sorts of issues. The potential in all the data we collect every day is yet to be realised."