Approaches presented herein enable identification of an owner of a misplaced item. More specifically, an owner identification system receives information about an item from a finder of the item and generates, based on the information, a found item profile including characteristics historically associated with typical owners of such an item. The system generates a set of profiles of user preferences based on social media activity of the users and determines, based on a comparison of the found item profile with the user preferences profile, a likelihood that the user is the owner of the item. Based on this determination, the finder of the item can be notified of an identification of a potential owner. Successful matches between found items and their owners can be entered into a cognitive learning system to improve future outcomes.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A computer-implemented method for identifying an owner of a misplaced item, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving information about a found item from a finder of the found item; generating, based on the received information, a found item profile comprising a set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item; generating a user preferences profile comprising a set of preferences of a user; determining, based on a comparison of the found item profile with the user preferences profile, a likelihood that the user is the owner of the found item; and notifying, in response to the likelihood being above a predetermined threshold, the finder of an identification of a potential owner based on the determination. 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising designating the user a potential owner in the case that the likelihood is within a threshold confidence level. 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving a confirmation that the user is the owner of the found item; and entering the user preferences profile and the found item profile into a data store of a cognitive learning system. 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, the set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item being based on knowledge from the cognitive learning system. 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the information about the found item comprising at least one of the group consisting of: a description of the found item, a picture of the found item, and a location where the found item was found. 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, the set of preferences of the user being retrieved from at least one of the group consisting of: a social network profile, a social network status, a social network feed, and a public record. 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, the set of preferences of the user being selected from the group consisting of: a personal taste, an interest, a hobby, an income, a type of employment, a demographic, a lifestyle, a location, and preferences. 8. A computer system for identifying an owner of a misplaced item, the computer system comprising: a memory medium comprising program instructions; a bus coupled to the memory medium; and a processor, for executing the program instructions, coupled to a found item owner identifier via the bus that when executing the program instructions causes the system to: receive information about a found item from a finder of the found item; generate, based on the received information, a found item profile comprising a set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item; generate a user preferences profile comprising a set of preferences of a user; determine, based on a comparison of the found item profile with the user preferences profile, a likelihood that the user is the owner of the found item; and notify, in response to the likelihood being above a predetermined threshold, the finder of an identification of a potential owner based on the determination. 9. The computer system of claim 8, the instructions further causing the system to designate the user a potential owner in the case that the likelihood is within a threshold confidence level. 10. The computer system of claim 8, the instructions further causing the system to: receive a confirmation that the user is the owner of the found item; and enter the user preferences profile and the found item profile into a data store of a cognitive learning system. 11. The computer system of claim 10, the set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item being based on knowledge from the cognitive learning system. 12. The computer system of claim 8, the information about the found item comprising at least one of the group consisting of: a description of the found item, a picture of the found item, and a location where the found item was found. 13. The computer system of claim 8, the set of preferences of the user being retrieved from at least one of the group consisting of: a social network profile, a social network status, a social network feed, and a public record. 14. The computer system of claim 13, the set of preferences of the user being selected from the group consisting of: a personal taste, an interest, a hobby, an income, a type of employment, a demographic, a lifestyle, a location, and preferences. 15. A computer program product for identifying an owner of a misplaced item, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage device, to: receive information about a found item from a finder of the found item; generate, based on the received information, a found item profile comprising a set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item; generate a user preferences profile comprising a set of preferences of a user; determine, based on a comparison of the found item profile with the user preferences profile, a likelihood that the user is the owner of the found item; and notify, in response to the likelihood being above a predetermined threshold, the finder of an identification of a potential owner based on the determination. 16. The computer program product of claim 15, the computer readable storage device further comprising instructions to designate the user a potential owner in the case that the likelihood is within a threshold confidence level. 17. The computer program product of claim 15, the computer readable storage device further comprising instructions to: receive a confirmation that the user is the owner of the found item; and enter the user preferences profile and the found item profile into a data store of a cognitive learning system. 18. The computer program product of claim 17, the set of characteristics historically associated with owners of the found item being based on knowledge from the cognitive learning system. 19. The computer program product of claim 15, the information about the found item comprising at least one of the group consisting of: a description of the found item, a picture of the found item, and a location where the found item was found. 20. The computer program product of claim 15, the set of preferences of the user being retrieved from at least one of the group consisting of: a social network profile, a social network status, a social network feed, and a public record, and the set of preferences of the user being selected from the group consisting of: a personal taste, an interest, a hobby, an income, a type of employment, a demographic, a lifestyle, a location, and preferences.