Inference
After an HTM has learned the patterns in its world, it can perform inference on novel inputs. When an HTM receives input, it will match it to previously learned spatial and temporal patterns. Successfully matching new inputs to previously stored sequences is the essence of inference and pattern matching.
Think about how you recognize a melody. Hearing the first note in a melody tells you little. The second note narrows down the possibilities significantly but it may still not be enough. Usually it takes three, four, or more notes before you recognize the melody. Inference in an HTM region is similar. It is constantly looking at a stream of inputs and matching them to previously learned sequences. An HTM region can find matches from the beginning of sequences but usually it is more fluid, analogous to how you can recognize a melody starting from anywhere. Because HTM regions use distributed representations, the region’s use of sequence memory and inference are more complicated than the melody example implies, but the example gives a flavor for how it works.
It may not be immediately obvious, but every sensory experience you have ever had has been novel, yet you easily find familiar patterns in this novel input. For example, you can understand the word “breakfast” spoken by almost anyone, no matter whether they are old or young, male or female, are speaking quickly or slowly, or have a strong accent. Even if you had the same person say the same word “breakfast” a hundred times, the sound would never stimulate your cochleae (auditory receptors) in exactly the same way twice.
An HTM region faces the same problem your brain does: inputs may never repeat exactly. Consequently, just like your brain, an HTM region must handle novel input during inference and training. One way an HTM region copes with novel input is through the use of sparse distributed representations. A key property of sparse distributed representations is that you only need to match a portion of the pattern to be confident that the match is significant.
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