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Data mining
Data mining is simply filtering through large amounts of raw data for useful information that gives businesses a competitive edge. This information is made up of meaningful patterns and trends that are already in the data but were previously unseen.
The most popular tool used when mining is artificial intelligence (AI). AI technologies try to work the way the human brain works, by making intelligent guesses, learning by example, and using deductive reasoning. Some of the more popular AI methods used in data mining include neural networks, clustering, and decision trees.
Neural networks look at the rules of using data, which are based on the connection found or on a sample set of data. As a result, the software continually analyses value and compares it to the other factors, and it compares these factors repeatedly until it finds patterns emerging. These patterns are known as rules. The software then looks for other patterns based on these rules or sends out an alarm when a trigger value is hit.
Clustering divides data into groups based on similar features or limited data ranges. Clusters are used when data isn’t labeled in a way that is favourable to mining. For instance, an insurance company that wants to find instance of fraud wouldn’t have its records labelled as fraudulent or not fraudulent. But after analysing patterns within clusters, the mining software can start to figure out the rules that point to which claims are likely to be false.
Decision trees, like clusters, separate the data into subsets to divide them into further subsets, and so on (for a few more levels). The final subsets are then small enough that the mining process can find interesting patterns and relationships within the data.
Once data to be mined is identified, it should be cleansed. Cleansing data frees it from duplicate information and erroneous data. Next, the data should be stored in a uniform format within relevant categories or fields. Mining tools can...
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