RUNNIG HEADER: APPLICATION OF DEEP LEARNING NEURAL NETWORKS IN BIG DATA ANALYTICS

Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks in Big Data Analytics

Luis A. Gutierrez

The University of Texas at El Paso

Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of deep learning techniques in big data analytics.

The differences and similarities between use of deep learning algorithms in big data analytics

and other fields such as Natural Language Recognition software and Visual Recognition

Software. This paper also discusses the current and future importance of deep learning

applications in big data analytics. Research shows how the demand for these techniques has

increased at an incredible pace and will continue this trend for the foreseeable future. Finally,

this paper gives an insight into some of the methods used by these deep learning algorithms to

collect, interpret, and apply data.

Introduction

Data science has been around for almost as long as humans have been on around too.

Data science has always just meant the compilation of data to create useful statistical data. It’s

the new definition of data science which this paper discusses. This “new” definition has only

emerged recently and more specifically describes the new profession that works with making

sense of vast amounts of data. In order to accommodate for the immense increase in data

compilation in the past few years, data scientists have come up with new techniques using

modern technology to solve the new challenges that emerge from having so much data. The

implementation of machine learning techniques, more specifically deep learning neural networks

and algorithms, in big data analytics has become essential to the advancement of data analytics.

In order to understand how deep learning techniques are used in big data analytics it is important

to look at how they are used in other fields. That along with understanding how data scientists
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

use deep learning algorithms to interpret this data will help the application of these techniques to

become more broadly used and understood.

To better understand what the application of deep learning in big data analytics we must

first define what each of those parts mean. According to the National Institute of Standards and

Technology USA, “big data is where the data volume, acquisition velocity, or data representation

limits the ability to perform effective analysis using traditional relationship approaches or

requires the use of significant scaling (more nodes) for efficient processing” (Rajaraman p.696).

In simpler terms… companies such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Intel define big data as:

“Big data is a term describing the storage and analysis of large and/or complex data sets using a

series of techniques including but not limited to: NoSQL, MapReduce, and machine learning”

(Rajaraman p.697). Deep learning “allows computational models that are composed of multiple

processing layers to learn representations of data with multiple levels of abstraction” (LeCun p.

436). What that means is that deep learning algorithms use many layers of machine “learning” to

break down processes or problems and find solutions to those smaller problems to create one big

solution in the end. So how do these two fields come together to help us understand patterns in

data? “The general focus of machine learning is the representation of the input data and

generalization of the learnt patterns for the use on future unseen data” (Najafabadi p.1). Data is

fundamental for machine learning algorithms to work. Deep learning algorithms learn from the

data given and use that “knowledge” to create analysis on the data that humans use. This

automates data analysis and makes the process much faster and much more efficient.
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

What are some differences/similarities of how deep learning techniques

are used in big data analytics to how they are used in other fields?

To be able to understand the difference and similarities among deep learning techniques

in different fields it is important to see specific uses within data science and in other related

fields. So how is deep learning used in big data analytics? Big Data Biometrics is the science of

identifying a person or verifying his identity on the basis of physiological or behavioral

characteristics. For example, fingerprints, iris, face, voice, hand geometry, and dynamic

signatures are the top six biometrics in the real world (Jaseena p. 12). All this biometric

information is easily lost or confused. Internal Affairs agencies, and banks need to have access to

these authentications biometrics in order to effectively do their work. By using biometric big

data technologies, authentication systems can access and manipulate databases with information

on millions of individuals. Deep learning algorithms allow for all this information to be sorted

and organized quickly and efficiently because they learn to predict what new inputs will look

like and anticipate them. Another example of deep learning algorithms used in big data analytics

is how the U.S Department of Homeland Security uses machine learning and deep learning to

identify patterns in email and cell phone traffic and other sources to identify future threats so just

like the algorithms from which these systems are built, they can handle those threats before they

happen or before they get any larger.

Deep learning applied to big data analytics is all about making predictions to be able to

anticipate outcomes. Unlike in other fields were deep learning is used more towards learning

about data and users and improving on itself for the benefit of the user. One example is natural

language recognition software, also known as speech recognition software. Services such as
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Google Assistant, all use artificial intelligence to

attempt to make lives easier. Easier said than done, these services use sophisticated machine

learning neural networks to respond to your voice commands in their respective voice assistant

services. Deep learning algorithms recognize, classify, and categorize patterns from inputs and

cross reference them to the databases behind the systems supporting them. The way the data is

structured and stored is what makes these services so fast and efficient. Therefore, you get an

almost instant response from your Amazon Alexa after asking it how to lose weight after that

enormous thanksgiving dinner. Visual object recognition software follows similar guidelines.

The main difference between speech and visual recognition software is that the input data goes

from speech to visual inputs. For services such as Google’s Google Lens service, found in many

mobile devices running Google’s Android operating system, visual recognition software uses

deep learning algorithms to process images. This process can be broken down into three main

steps. The first is that the image recognition software gathers and organizes the data to work

with. It then uses that data to build a model of the image. Finally, it uses the model to recognize

images. While these steps may sound very simple, the calculations and comparisons that happen

in the background are incredibly complex. Finally, another way that deep learning is used that

you see every day but don’t necessarily think about is in targeted advertising. What this means is

that online advertisers use sophisticated learning mechanisms to target their audiences based on

the product or person the advertiser is promoting. In order to do this, these advertisement

software’s use the user’s information such as race, economic status, sex, age, etc. and their

search histories to personalize online advertisement. Therefore, you might have found that you

look up a product that you are interested in buying on your phone and the next day when you log

into your computer, you find endless ads on your browser promoting that same or similar
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

products. Targeted advertisement uses extremely complex algorithms that use the user’s data and

analyze their browsing patterns to recommend and show products that they are most likely to

purchase.

All these different services and infrastructures, while they are here to serve different

purposes, they all have one core function that they all share. That is their need to access data and

the manipulation of this data through deep learning algorithms. “The term machine learning

refers to the automated detection of meaningful patterns in data” (Jaseena p.14). For any deep

learning algorithm to be able to do its work, there must be a large amount of data from which to

discern patterns and create organizational structures for simplified access later. The quality and

the quantity of the data are both very big factors in determining how well the algorithm learns as

well as the prediction performance. For a biometric scanner to work successfully, it must be able

to access a database containing all the biometric information of all the people to be able to cross

reference the input dataset to the data in the database. For example, the FBI (Federal Bureau of

Investigation) Next Generation Identification has more than 100 million individuals in their

system and India’s Unique Identity biometric system has more than 600 million individuals

(Jaseena p.14). Natural language recognition software and speech recognition software have

access to immense libraries of data. Think about Google and all the data they have available to

provide to all their smart devices. What about amazon and their vast access to user information

that they provide to their voice assistant Alexa. Apple’s Siri, like its Google and Amazon

counterparts, offers a wide variety of services including weather reports, reminders, answers to

user questions, etc. All these services use deep learning algorithms along with all the data

collected by their corresponding services.

Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

Why is deep learning so important in how data scientists interpret big

data?

As the amount of data keeps getting bigger, deep learning is coming in to play a key role

in providing big data predictive analytics solutions (Chen p.514). According to the National

Security Agency (NSA), the internet is processing 1,826 Petabytes of data per day. That is the

equivalent to almost 2 billion gigabytes of data per day, or the amount of storage found in

roughly 29 million 64 gigabyte iPhones. These machine learning techniques are widely used in

Big Data fields like search engines and medicine. In contrast to other machine learning

techniques, deep learning refers to techniques that use supervised and/ or unsupervised strategies

to automatically classify data. The advantage of deep learning over many of the other machine

learning techniques is that it can be successfully applied to large volumes of data. There are

many ways in which deep learning algorithms are applied to the data, and each algorithm and

process approach the data in different ways. However, they all aim to achieve one thing which is

to train these algorithms to become self-sustainable and make connections and predictions on the

data automatically. The main focus of these deep learning techniques is to do what is impossible

for human beings to do on their own, sort through raw, unsorted, unlabeled data and give

predictions back, which can be used to discover trends is consumer shopping habits or find when

the next outbreak of the flu will happen and even who will be the next president of the United

States. The amount of data and the increasing need for quality data is dictating where the

industry is moving (Al-Jarrah p.88).

If so much data has been accumulated just is the past few years, what kind of changes

will begin to be seen in just a few years from now? It is expected that by 2020 the amount of
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

digital information stored across the world will reach 35 trillion gigabytes (Chen p.514). The

future of Big Data lies in these deep learning algorithms. With so much data piling up in servers

all around the world, it will me more important than it is now to have these methods of sorting

through all this data to find meaningful patterns that will help advancements in every field

possible. For example, in 2013, President Barack Obama announced a brain mapping initiative

called the BRAIN (Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) aiming to

develop techniques to map human brain functions and treat and cure brain disorders. The amount

of data needed for this initiative will test the limits of technologies for Big Data collection and

analysis (Chen p.521). As time goes on however, and more data is gathered, the running-time

complexities (time it takes for the algorithms to make operations) will increase. It will be critical

for the analysis of so much data that data scientists focus on adapting and current deep learning

techniques. As data grows and as the variety of data also increase, the algorithms will have to

adapt to the new parameters. Just like humans evolve, so does the data that we create.

How is deep learning changing the way data is collected, interpreted,

and applied?

Due to the incredible growth in the field of data analytics, it has been of the utter most

importance that the techniques with which the data is analyzed also evolve along side it. Some of

the data processing applications that exist today are analysis, capture, data curation, search,

sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, querying, updating and information privacy. All these

operations on data take time, and space. There is also such a great amount of data in existence

and all that data is incredibly varied. That is why data can be classified as big data is the data

consists of the three V’s, volume, variety, and velocity (Hordri p.33). Volume refers to the
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

quality that the data must have a large number of data. Variety refers to the quality that the data

must come in many forms or formats and can be organized I structured or unstructured ways.

Finally, velocity refers to the speed at which the data can be generated and organized. With new

machine learning techniques, these methods and processes take a fraction of the time and effort

that they used to take years ago. The first part of data analysis using deep learning techniques is

collecting the data. This is done with several techniques; rule learning, data mining, cluster

analysis, text analytics, and crowd sourcing (Hordri p.33).

Once data has been collected using one or a combination of these deep learning

techniques, interpreting the data is the next challenge. Like with collecting data, there are various

deep learning strategies used to interpret data; supervised learning, unsupervised learning,

reinforcement learning, and semisupervised learning (Jaseena p.15). These methods interpret

data differently and come up with different results, however, they all work to find similarities in

the data, group those similarities, and learn about those similarities to apply in the future. In the

end these are “learning” algorithms. In order for these algorithms to work successfully on their

own, this new notion of learning is what has created such a huge demand for deep learning

applications in big data analytics.

Figure 1. Supervised Deep Learning

Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

Conclusion

As data evolves and it gets bigger, data scientists must evolve the methods with which this data

is collected and interpreted. Advances in technology will create an even bigger surge in the

amount of data stored in servers around the world. The key to future advancements in technology

lie within all that data. If these discoveries are to be made any time soon, the methods to extract

this information will be more important than ever before. With the help of machine learning

techniques, it will possible to sort through all this data and find the meaningful pieces to keep

moving forward.
Application of Deep Learning Neural Networks is Big Data Analytics

Works Cited

Hordri,N.F.1,2, Samar, A. 1., Yuhaniz,S.S.1,2, & Shamsuddin, S. M. 2.,. (2017). A systematic

literature review on features of deep learning in big data analytics

Jaseena, K. U. 1., & Kovoor, B. C. 2. (2018). A survey on deep learning techniques for big data

in biometrics

LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521, 436.

Najafabadi, M. M., Villanustre, F., Khoshgoftaar, T. M., Seliya, N., Wald, R., & Muharemagic,

E. (2015). Deep learning applications and challenges in big data analytics. Journal of Big

Data, 2(1), 1.

Rajaraman, V. (2016). Big data analytics. Resonance, 21(8), 695-716.

X. Chen, & X. Lin. (2014). Big data deep learning: Challenges and perspectives. IEEE Access, 2,

514-525.