Neural networks is a computational and engineering methodology based on emulating how nature has implemented biological brain (in particular, the brain's massively parallel and learning aspects). As such, it holds promise for significant impact on how important classes of scientific and engineering problems are solved.

Neural networks is an adaptable system that approximates the operation of the human brain and the central nervous system. A neural network usually involves a large number of processors operating in parallel, each with its own small sphere of knowledge and access to data in its local memory. Neural Networks can learn from noisy data and generalize on unseen data to provide a very powerful machine learning paradigm.

Current applications of neural networks include: oil exploration data analysis, weather prediction, pattern recognition, the interpretation of nucleotide sequences in biology labs, the exploration of models of thinking and consciousness in addition to many other applications.