So What is Neural-Networking Technology??

Real-time data mining, powered by neural-network technology is changing the way people run businesses. Neural networking technology is an artificial intelligence system that is capable of finding and differentiating patterns. The brain learns through experience and that is what the goal of a neural network system is, and it is seen as the next major leap in the computer industry. Even though the technology may seem new to us as consumers, neural networks have actually been around for years, starting in the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a firm founded by technology visionary Robert Hecht-Nielsen. But even though some of the simplest of animals can detect pattern changes, it is something very difficult to accomplish with a computer. But, advance in biological research have opened doors to understanding how the brain stores information as patterns.

So how is this new technology being utilized? "Traditional fraud detection operates with a delay of months or years," Tammy Delatorre, a spokesperson for Fair Isaac, told TechNewsWorld. "While useful, this approach does little to prevent fraudsters from committing costly fraud schemes and then disappearing with the money." What neural-networking technology has done is it has brought fraud detection to the next level. How the technology works is it learns the clients purchasing patterns and scores it. When the pattern is changed, the score changes and the right people are alerted. "The score allows claims professionals to determine which claims must be taken out of the payment stream for further investigation, and allows the rest of the claims to be fast-tracked for payment," said Fair Isaac's Delatorre. "The system also provides reason codes to help investigators determine the most appropriate action on each high-risk claim."

The technology is also being used in the customer service area of business. Customer-behavior prediction is exactly as it sounds, it tries to predict the buying patterns of customers in the future. This is a job that used to take a lot of time and research for companies, but now is being done via computer, not just seasonally, but hourly. The software can show the different things people are buying at different times of the year, month, week, and day! It then predicts how much of each product needs to be ordered in advance to meet these forecasted needs.

Neural-networking technology is making our world different everyday, and if you haven’t noticed, you are just not paying attention. You shop online now and before you finish, the website is already giving you recommendations for future purchases based on past purchases. As this new technology finds new avenues to advance service, it is exciting to see where it will take us.

Koprowski, Gene. "Neural-Network Technology Moves into the Mainstream." 07 June 2003 09 Feb 2008 .