An Introduction to Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

The design of the first computers were influenced by the power of the human brain and attempts to create artificial intelligence, yet modern day digital computers are very different from what we understand about human neural processing. Most computers today are sequential (or only partially parallel) and have no (or very limited) learning capability. We have succeeded in building machines that can reliably store and quickly access information from large databases of data but we have only recently been able to create control mechanisms that enable robots to walk on two legs on flat surfaces. However, as far as image recognition is concerned, and in particular face recognition, our attempts to replicate the power of our own visual systems have been very limited. Our own biological visual systems are still much more advanced than current artificial models.