Pattern recognition is a branch of machine learning that focuses on the recognition of patterns and regularities in data, although it is in some cases considered to be nearly synonymous with machine learning. Pattern recognition systems are in many cases trained from labeled "training" data (supervised learning), but when no labeled data are available other algorithms can be used to discover previously unknown patterns (unsupervised learning).
The terms pattern recognition, machine learning, data mining and knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) are hard to separate, as they largely overlap in their scope. Machine learning is the common term for supervised learning methods and originates from artificial intelligence, whereas KDD and data mining have a larger focus on unsupervised methods and stronger connection to business use. Pattern recognition has its origins in engineering, and the term is popular in the context of computer vision: a leading computer vision conference is named Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. In pattern recognition, there may be a higher interest to formalize, explain and visualize the pattern, while machine learning traditionally focuses on maximizing the recognition rates. Yet, all of these domains have evolved substantially from their roots in artificial intelligence, engineering and statistics, and they've become increasingly similar by integrating developments and ideas from each other.