concept mining

Concept mining is the process of searching documents or unstructured text for ideas and topics. Similar to text mining and data mining, concept mining involves creating a mining model and applying artificial intelligence (AI). However, concept mining focuses on finding intent and meaning rather than extracting explicit information.

Since documents are typically loosely structured sequences of text, concept mining enables organizations to uncover insights into their meaning without reading through them manually. Software applications have been developed that allow users to customize concept mining functionality and organize results based on their needs.

Download this free guide

Download: Free AI Buyer's Guide

We designed this expert guide to help you better understand all of the considerations for building and maintaining the infrastructure and engine that support the initiatives. Plus, learn about the products and players, like Amazon, Google, IBM, and 16 more to help you make the best buying decision.

Start Download

• Corporate E-mail Address:

  You forgot to provide an Email Address.

  This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

  This email address is already registered. Please login.

  You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

  Please provide a Corporate E-mail Address.

• • I agree to TechTarget’s Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the transfer of my information to the United States for processing to provide me with relevant information as described in our Privacy Policy.

  Please check the box if you want to proceed.

• • I agree to my information being processed by TechTarget and its Partners to contact me via phone, email, or other means regarding information relevant to my professional interests. I may unsubscribe at any time.

  Please check the box if you want to proceed.

By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

The classification of documents through concept mining has become more important as organizations rely more heavily on electronic data and documents. When implemented correctly, software applications that use concept mining techniques streamline retrieval tasks and enhance the ability to use stored documents.

How concept mining works

Concept mining can be applied to any type or format of document , but typically works best with longer documents that are hard to parse by hand. Mining models are created by teaching concept mining applications about semantics, context, topics, computational linguistics  and related (or unrelated) words.

The application will take this knowledge, skim through documents and map specific words or sections of text to a concept. Users will then take the proposed mapping and check for errors or inconsistencies. Since different words can relate to several possible concepts, giving the application feedback on its results will make it more accurate in the future.

Uses of concept mining

Some common applications of concept mining tools include:

• Grouping documents by theme or subject matter for archival
• Organizing forms of customer feedback, like emails or reviews, by topic to detect common issues or desires.
• Cross-referencing a large number of documents for similarities or plagiarism.
• Pulling documents related to a specific concept out of a large database to complete a task, such as for research or evidence purposes.