Artificial Intelligence and Optical Character Recognition

Artificial Intelligence and Optical Character Recognition

Written by Ana Canteli on 4 April 2023

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a technology that extracts metadata in scanned images or documents and converts them into editable text. OCR can "read" and understand text, even in a handwritten scanned image and convert it into a text format that a computer can edit.

 The OCR process begins with scanning a document, which produces a high-resolution image containing text. OCR technology uses algorithms to analyze images and recognize character patterns representing letters, numbers, or other symbols. Once the characters are identified, the software converts them into a text format that can be edited.

OCR is used in various applications, from scanning old documents to converting paper invoices into electronic documents. It is also used to automate business processes.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that focuses on developing algorithms and systems that enable hardware to perform tasks that would otherwise require human intervention.

AI is based on the concept of "machine learning," which means that machines can analyze large amounts of data and learn patterns and rules from it. It allows them to perform speech recognition, decision-making, and natural language understanding tasks.

Natural language refers to the ability of computers to understand and process human language similarly to people's. It involves not only the ability to recognize words and phrases but also the ability to understand the meaning behind them.

Today, most natural language processing systems use machine learning algorithms, which allow them to analyze large amounts of data and learn linguistic patterns and rules from it. It enables them to perform machine translation, text classification and tagging, and question-and-answer understanding tasks.

Natural language in computing is used in various applications, from virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa to customer service chatbots to automating tasks such as classifying and labeling scanned documents.

Today, AI is used in various applications, from customer service chatbots and virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa to autonomous car-driving systems and algorithms that detect financial fraud. AI is also being used in scientific and medical research, as well as in predicting natural disasters and managing the environment.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and optical character recognition (OCR) are closely related and often used in applications and systems.

For example, in the OCR process, AI analyzes and understands the scanned image and recognizes character patterns representing letters, numbers, and other symbols. AI can also help improve the accuracy of OCR technology by automatically correcting text recognition errors.

In addition, AI can extract information from scanned documents using OCR. For example, AI can analyze the data extracted from OCR documents and perform tasks such as classifying, labeling, and categorizing information. It can also analyze the information extracted from OCRed documents to detect patterns and trends and provide helpful decision-making information.

Improving business processes with AI & OCR

AI and OCR complement each other and can offer various solutions for automating processes and improving business and other tasks.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and optical character recognition (OCR) partnerships can significantly improve a company's document management.

In OpenKM's document management system, the combination of AI and OCR technology helps automate many document management processes, significantly reducing the manual workload and improving the efficiency and accuracy of procedures. For example, documents can be automatically scanned and processed using OCR, and then AI can automatically classify and tag documents according to their content.

Many business processes can be significantly improved in OpenKM by applying artificial intelligence (AI) and optical character recognition (OCR). Some examples include:

• Invoice processing: AI and OCR can automate data entry into a company's accounting system, enabling greater efficiency and accuracy in invoice processing.

• Document filing and archiving: AI and OCR can automatically classify documents and tag them according to their content, making them easier to store and retrieve later.

• Customer service: AI-powered chatbots can provide quick and accurate answers to customer questions, improving customer satisfaction and reducing the workload of customer service staff.

• Demand forecasting: AI can analyze historical sales data and forecast future demand, which can help companies adjust their inventories and resources accordingly.

• Risk analysis: AI and OCR can be used to analyze large amounts of financial data and detect risk patterns, which can help businesses make more informed decisions and reduce the risk of fraud.

In short, AI and OCR can be used in OpenKM to automate and improve a wide variety of business processes, improving business operations' efficiency, accuracy, and profitability.

In addition, AI can be used in OpenKM to analyze information extracted from documents using OCR, which can provide helpful information for decision-making and process optimization. For example, AI can analyze document usage patterns in OpenKM and determine which are the most important for the company.

Artificial intelligence can also detect and prevent document errors and fraud, which is especially important in finance or legal sectors.

The partnership between artificial intelligence and optical character recognition can provide a wide range of benefits for a company's document management, improving processes' efficiency, accuracy, and security and allowing employees to focus on more essential and value-added tasks. We invite you to watch the related video. For more information, please get in touch with us.