Semantics as the Basis of Advanced Cognitive Computing

This talk discusses how companies can apply semantic technologies to build cognitive applications. It examines the role of semantic technologies within the larger Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology ecosystem, with the aim of raising awareness of different solution approaches.

To succeed in a digital and increasingly self-service-oriented business environment, companies can no longer rely solely on IT professionals. Solutions like the PoolParty Semantic Suite utilize domain experts and business users to shape the cognitive intelligence of knowledge-driven applications.

Cognitive solutions essentially mimic how the human brain works. The search for cognitive solutions has challenged computer scientists for more than six decades. The research has matured to the extent that it has moved out of the laboratory and is now being applied in a range of knowledge-intensive industries.

There is no such thing as a single, all-encompassing “AI technology.” Rather, the large global professional technology community and software vendors are continuously developing a broad set of methods and tools for natural language processing and advanced data analytics. They are creating a growing library of machine learning algorithms to enhance the automated learning capabilities of computer systems. These emerging technologies need to be customized or combined with complementary solutions as semantic knowledge graphs, depending on the use case.

A hybrid approach to cognitive computing, employing both the statistical and knowledge base models, will have a critical influence on the development of applications. Highly automated data processing based on sophisticated machine-learning algorithms must give end user the option to independently modify the functioning of smart applications in order to overcome the disadvantages associated with ‘black-box’ approaches.

This talk will give an overview over state-of-the-art smart applications, which are becoming a fusion of search, recommendation, and question-answer machines. We will cover specific use cases in focused knowledge domains, and we will discuss how this approach allows for AI-enabled use cases and application scenarios that are currently highly prioritized by corporate and digital business players.