Artificial Intelligence in Business Processes

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to establish that the principles used by neural networks can be applied to business process management. The similarity between artificial neurons and business processes, and hence between neural networks and process landscapes, will be demonstrated. This novel approach leads to an emphasis on process interactions and their effect on actions as a major governing factor in controlling process outputs. Stigmergic interaction in biological systems is explored in the context of business processes, and its potential to understand process interaction is investigated. In order to verify the use of stigmergy in business environments, a pilot study is described in which shop floor business processes in a retailing environment are observed and described using a stigmergic framework. Establishing the viability of using stigmergic interaction to control process actions and outputs is the first step towards designing neural process networks.