Classification and Computers: Shifting the Focus

The aim of this paper is to examine recent progress in supervised classification, sometimes called supervised pattern recognition, to look at changes in emphasis which are occurring, and to make recommendations for the focus of future research effort. In particular, I suggest that effort should now be shifted away from the minutiae of improving the performance of classification rules, as measured by, for example, error rate, and should, instead be focused on a deeper understanding of the problem domains and a better matching of the methods to the problems. I illustrate with some examples to support this suggestion.