One solution to nearest neighbor outliers is to link them with the class cluster by adding new points between the outlier and the cluster. In the age of Generative AI, new data points are legitimate, and if they are added equally and only when needed, they might help re-balance the dataset. In this paper, we describe a nearest neighbor algorithm called Step Nearest Neighbor (Step NN), where incorrectly identified points can be re-linked by adding new points between them and the main cluster. The step points can also be noted, so that they can, for instance, be ignored as real cases. As new points were added, it worked only with distance-based metrics, however. While other adaptive versions may have to fine-tune parameters, this method was easier to use and as it could be pre-trained, this offers options for big data and distributed environments. Test results showed that accuracy comparisons with the classic version of k-NN is almost equal, but Step NN can generalise. In the cases where k-NN did well, k-NN should be equal to or better than Step NN. In the cases where k-NN did not do well, Step NN is likely to be better.
Citation: Kieran Greer. Adding link points to improve Nearest Neighbor classification[J]. Applied Computing and Intelligence, 2026, 6(2): 186-193. doi: 10.3934/aci.2026011
One solution to nearest neighbor outliers is to link them with the class cluster by adding new points between the outlier and the cluster. In the age of Generative AI, new data points are legitimate, and if they are added equally and only when needed, they might help re-balance the dataset. In this paper, we describe a nearest neighbor algorithm called Step Nearest Neighbor (Step NN), where incorrectly identified points can be re-linked by adding new points between them and the main cluster. The step points can also be noted, so that they can, for instance, be ignored as real cases. As new points were added, it worked only with distance-based metrics, however. While other adaptive versions may have to fine-tune parameters, this method was easier to use and as it could be pre-trained, this offers options for big data and distributed environments. Test results showed that accuracy comparisons with the classic version of k-NN is almost equal, but Step NN can generalise. In the cases where k-NN did well, k-NN should be equal to or better than Step NN. In the cases where k-NN did not do well, Step NN is likely to be better.
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Kieran Greer. Adding link points to improve Nearest Neighbor classification[J]. Applied Computing and Intelligence, 2026, 6(2): 186-193. doi: 10.3934/aci.2026011
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