Document AI

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Document AI, also known as Document Intelligence, refers to a field of technology that employs machine learning (ML) techniques, such as natural language processing (NLP). [1] These techniques are used to develop computer models capable of analyzing documents in a manner akin to human review.

Contents

Through NLP, computer systems are able to understand relationships and contextual nuances in document contents, which facilitates the extraction of information and insights. Additionally, this technology enables the categorization and organization of the documents themselves. [2]

The applications of Document AI extend to processing and parsing a variety of semi-structured documents, such as forms, tables, receipts, invoices, tax forms, contracts, loan agreements, and financial reports.

Key Features

Machine learning is utilized in Document AI to extract information from both digital and printed documents. This technology recognizes text, characters, and images in various languages, aiding in the extraction of insights from unstructured documents. The use of this technology can improve the speed and quality of decision-making in document analysis. Additionally, the automation of data extraction and validation can contribute to increased efficiency in document analysis processes.

Example

Formal-letter Formal-letter.gif
Formal-letter

A business letter contains information in for the form of text, as well as other types of information, such as the position of the text. For instance, a typical letter contains two addresses before the body of the text. The address at the very top (sometimes aligned to the right) is the sender address. This is normally followed by the date of the letter, with the place of writing. After this, the receiver address is listen.

The distinction between the sender address and the receiver address is conveyed soley by the position of the address on the page, i.e. there is no textual indication like Sender: in front of the addresses.

Data dimensions & ML architecture

Data is typically distinguished in spatial data and time-series data, the former can be things like images, maps, graphs, etc. the latter can be e.g. stock-price or a voice recording. Document AI combines text data, which has a time dimension, with other types of data, such as the position of an address in a business letter, which is spatial.

Historically in machine learning spatial data was analyzed using a convolutional neural network, and temporal data using a recurrent neural network. With the advent of dimension-type agnostic transformer architecture, these two different types of dimension can be more easily combined, Document AI is an example of this.

Common Uses

Related Research Articles

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Natural language processing (NLP) is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and linguistics. It is primarily concerned with giving computers the ability to support and manipulate human language. It involves processing natural language datasets, such as text corpora or speech corpora, using either rule-based or probabilistic machine learning approaches. The goal is a computer capable of "understanding" the contents of documents, including the contextual nuances of the language within them. The technology can then accurately extract information and insights contained in the documents as well as categorize and organize the documents themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical character recognition</span> Computer recognition of visual text

Optical character recognition or optical character reader (OCR) is the electronic or mechanical conversion of images of typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-encoded text, whether from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scene photo or from subtitle text superimposed on an image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handwriting recognition</span> Ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input

Handwriting recognition (HWR), also known as handwritten text recognition (HTR), is the ability of a computer to receive and interpret intelligible handwritten input from sources such as paper documents, photographs, touch-screens and other devices. The image of the written text may be sensed "off line" from a piece of paper by optical scanning or intelligent word recognition. Alternatively, the movements of the pen tip may be sensed "on line", for example by a pen-based computer screen surface, a generally easier task as there are more clues available. A handwriting recognition system handles formatting, performs correct segmentation into characters, and finds the most possible words.

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Resume parsing, also known as CV parsing, resume extraction, or CV extraction, allows for the automated storage and analysis of resume data. The resume is imported into parsing software and the information is extracted so that it can be sorted and searched.

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References

  1. Cui, Lei; Xu, Yiheng; Lv, Tengchao; Wei, Furu (2021). "Document AI: Benchmarks, Models and Applications". arXiv: 2111.08609 [cs.CL].
  2. "Why Digitizing Documents has been Accelerated by COVID-19 Pandemic". eWEEK. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  3. Bodenbender, Mario; Kurzrock, Björn-Martin; Müller, Philipp Maximilian (April 2019). "Broad application of artificial intelligence for document classification, information extraction and predictive analytics in real estate". Journal of General Management. 44 (3): 170–179. doi:10.1177/0306307018823113. ISSN   0306-3070.