Nearly unlimited applications of this technology include detecting cyber criminals, regulating power during heat waves and automating retail pricing

SAS, the leader in analytics, contributes critical components to the cognitive computing mix. These include unparalleled natural language processing and open, deep learning API (application programming interface) libraries sitting on top of advanced analytics, including the new SAS^®Viya^™ platform.

Combined, they help developers create cognitive computing systems and apply them to high volumes of fast-moving data from text and images, and soon from audio and video too. The latest SAS additions to the portfolio of analytics that contribute to cognitive computing are SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning and SAS Visual Investigator.

“Cognitive computing is disruptive, combining technologies such as natural language processing, image processing, text mining and machine learning to augment human intelligence,” said Oliver Schabenberger, SAS executive vice president and chief technology officer. “SAS has supported cognitive technologies in analytics for decades. The exciting change is applying deep learning and high-performance computing to achieve greater automation and accuracy in the interaction between computers and people.”

“Cognitive computing systems will come in all flavours,” said Fern Halper, Vice President at TDWI. “The consistent threads underpinning them are rich data sources coupled with powerful, flexible analytics that connect the dots in the data to automate human tasks. They might be as mundane as adjusting your home’s air conditioning or as complicated as assisting the electric company to regulate the flow of energy to your city during a heat wave.

“When consumer companies integrate APIs throughout their organisations, it will add a level of openness for people to experience cognitive computing when and where they want it. That’s when cognitive computing will take off and help people fully realise the power of knowledge automation in their everyday lives.”

Extending human intelligence

The goal of cognitive computing is to help people and machines interact in natural ways. The computer makes sense of the world around us – it senses, reads, listens and sees. It provides feedback and results by speaking or writing in natural language and by directing our actions.

SAS already helps organisations solve complex problems:

• SAS helps retailers by easing the arduous task of adjusting prices. After tapping into massive amounts of sales, demographic, seasonal and supply chain data, SAS analytics learn to automatically suggest new pricing for merchandise that the retailer wants to clear out.
• SAS helps energy companies make better predictions to keep the flow of electricity reliable, safe and affordable even with temperature extremes like heat waves.
• SAS helps auto makers create safer, more reliable vehicles that communicate with their environment and their owners about potential maintenance issues. That ability to communicate on a human level leads to improved safety, while also allowing the vehicle and its driver to find an open space in a crowded parking garage.
• SAS helps detect cyber criminals who are lurking in the computer systems of businesses and governments.
• Through recommendation engines, SAS helps users find relevant websites, jobs, books, videos, games, clothes, tools and more. With SAS natural language processing and advanced analytics, companies can make much more personalised and relevant recommendations to their customers, building loyalty.
• By analysing the text and sentiment of live chat messages, SAS helps companies move questions and problems more quickly to the right person. And with text-mining-assisted chat, customer-service reps can help the customer more rapidly reach a resolution to their question or problem, increasing customer satisfaction.

“SAS has had cognitive elements for some time, based on proven technologies like our text-mining and machine-learning software. And we will continue to develop cognitive approaches and applications that help our customers take advantage of this exciting and evolving area,” said Schabenberger.

James Taylor, chief executive officer at Decision Management Solutions, corroborates the vision. “SAS is committed to delivering a wide range of new analytic and machine learning (and cognitive) algorithms on the SAS Viya platform as well as making it easier to integrate their algorithms with others. With SAS Viya they can deliver a robust and powerful set of capabilities on a modern and more open platform.”

Cognitive capabilities based on deep learning and artificial intelligence will be embedded in SAS solutions built on the SAS Viya platform. Cognitive services include question-answer systems that drive analytics, make recommendations, or learn from user responses. Customers also will have access to cognitive analytics, image processing, and deep learning in the open SAS Viya platform, enabling them to build cognitive solutions.

This announcement was made at the Analytics Experience conference in Las Vegas, a business technology conference presented by SAS that brings together more than 10,000 attendees on-site and online to share ideas on critical business issues.