Heuristic
A heuristic was a method for a computer to learn. Computers built heuristics as shortcuts to perform the tasks they performed most often efficiently. ()

Soong-type androids also employed heuristics. In 2365, after being called out by Data for mis-pronouncing the android's name, Doctor Katherine Pulaski asked him whether his neural nets, algorithms, and heuristics combined together to create a circuit for bruised feelings. ()

See also 
 Heuristic associative pathway

External link

Computer programming
Artificial lifeform components