To help fellow musicians avoid a potential lawsuit, two friends developed an algorithm to generate, record and release every melody feasibly possible in popular music. Now if that’s not the most-nerdy headline you read today – I’m not sure what is.

Can predictive analytics be used to forecast which movie will walk away with the top honor at the Academy Awards? Apparently not. While predictive analytics is useful to forecast future trends, behaviors and patterns- Oscar winners are not one of them. Often times it is used to lower risks, improve software or anticipate customer behavior. Combined with machine learning and algorithms, predictive analytics incorporate past and current data to provide the most logical conclusion.