Tech Term Decoded: Pattern Recognition

Definition

Pattern recognition is a processing capability of machine learning (ML), data analytics and AI that detects arrangements of characteristics in data which provides information about a given system or data set. Words, texts, photos, and audio files are all acceptable data inputs for pattern recognition [1].

A simple example of pattern recognition would be an algorithm whose goal is to determine a customer's gender based on their konga shopping pattern. It might classify customer who buys gele (head ties) and ankara fabric, orders lace materials and jewelry as a female and customer who purchases agbada and senator wear, car accessories and tools as male

Pattern Recognition

Use cases of Pattern recognition [2]

Origin

Pattern Recognition origins can be traced back to 1950s when it was initially used in engineering fields. Over the years, with advancements in machine learning and computational capabilities, it became integral to many scientific, industrial, and business applications.

Context and Usage

Pattern recognition is an essential aspect of artificial intelligence and has a wide variety of applications, which include the following:

Speech/audio recognition: Text-to-speech converters and digital assistants like Apple’s Siri use make use of it to analyze voice cues and understand what different words and phrases express.

Natural language processing: Pattern recognition is used to explain language patterns to a computer and train it on how we speak and understand human language.

Image processing: Pattern recognition is used to experiment on how to recognize image patterns.

Video processing: Pattern recognition helps analyze videos to identify people, detect objects, and enable autonomous driving [3].

Why it Matters

In today’s digital world, patterns can be found all around us and plays a crucial role in understanding it. They can be seen physically in the colors of the clothing or the rhythm of the speech, or mathematically through the algorithms. As the advancement of AI continues to grow, the ability to recognize and understand intricate patterns is a necessity. Taking advantage of pattern recognition in AI not only improves the capabilities of intelligent systems but it also powers innovation across diverse industries [4].

In Practice

ATRIA is a good example of a real-life case study of pattern recognition in practice. They develop pattern recognition systems with artificial intelligence to optimize processes in various sectors. Their solutions allow identifying trends, detecting anomalies, and improving decision-making, offering precision and efficiency in every application [5].

See Also

Related Data Analysis Techniques:

  • Treemap: Hierarchical data visualization
  • Variance: Measure of how much model predictions vary with different training data
  • Windowing: Processing data in fixed intervals 

References

  1. Wright, G., Wigmore, I. (2025). What is pattern recognition?
  2. Kanade, V. (2023). What Is Pattern Recognition? Working, Types, and Applications.
  3. Coursera Staff. (2025). What Is Pattern Recognition?
  4. Lark Editorial Team. (2023). Some Common Methods for Pattern Recognition in AI.
  5. Atria. (2025). Pattern recognition systems with artificial intelligence 

Kelechi Egegbara

Kelechi Egegbara is a Computer Science lecturer with over 12 years of experience, an award winning Academic Adviser, Member of Computer Professionals of Nigeria and the founder of Kelegan.com. With a background in tech education, he has dedicated the later years of his career to making technology education accessible to everyone by publishing papers that explores how emerging technologies transform various sectors like education, healthcare, economy, agriculture, governance, environment, photography, etc. Beyond tech, he is passionate about documentaries, sports, and storytelling - interests that help him create engaging technical content. You can connect with him at kegegbara@fpno.edu.ng to explore the exciting world of technology together.

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