What is Cognitive Computing? An Architecture and State of The Art

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cohesive architecture for cognitive computing by analyzing literature and identifying three core computing paradigms, aiming to unify diverse research and guide future developments.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive architecture for cognitive computing based on statistical analysis of existing literature and compares it with qualitative findings.

Findings

Identifies three underlying paradigms: Von-Neumann, Neuromorphic Engineering, Quantum Computing.

Provides a survey of recent research on cognitive computing.

Discusses applications and future research directions.

Abstract

Cognitive Computing (COC) aims to build highly cognitive machines with low computational resources that respond in real-time. However, scholarly literature shows varying research areas and various interpretations of COC. This calls for a cohesive architecture that delineates the nature of COC. We argue that if Herbert Simon considered the design science is the science of artificial, cognitive systems are the products of cognitive science or 'the newest science of the artificial'. Therefore, building a conceptual basis for COC is an essential step into prospective cognitive computing-based systems. This paper proposes an architecture of COC through analyzing the literature on COC using a myriad of statistical analysis methods. Then, we compare the statistical analysis results with previous qualitative analysis results to confirm our findings. The study also comprehensively surveys the recent research on COC to identify the state of the art and connect the advances in varied research disciplines in COC. The study found that there are three underlaying computing paradigms, Von-Neuman, Neuromorphic Engineering and Quantum Computing, that comprehensively complement the structure of cognitive computation. The research discuss possible applications and open research directions under the COC umbrella.