Neural networks' power

Neural networks (NNs) are effective systems for learning pattern discriminants from a body of examples. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been developed in a wide variety of configurations with some common underlying characteristics. All ANNs attempt to achieve good performance via massive interconnection of simple computational elements. Neural networks are characterized by the model of their neurons, the connections among them and the methods used to train them to do specific tasks. The author describes multi-layer neural networks and Kohonen neural networks. The author then discusses how they are used in electric load forecasting and power system security assessment.