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How the IoT will get a boost with increased artificial intelligence presence

March 22, 2018

Posted by: Zenobia Hegde

Sensors integrated into devices use the internet and offer a bulk of data that is extremely useful, says Danish Wadhwa. There are many reasons for transmitting sensor data but all reasons settle on a common assumption that is data can be mined and evaluated to generate actionable insights.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are futuristic, sci-fi, imagery terms; both are responsible for driving innovation today. To experience its complete benefits, organisations need to combine AI technologies and IoT which help machines to become smart and make better decisions without any human intervention. A smart approach for this could be to master the AI course which teaches you about the basic concepts of modern AI, applications, and their use to drive business processes.

A lot has been said about the importance of AI, but what role it plays in IoT is yet to be unveiled completely. If IoT has been part of your organisation, this post will guide you on how increased AI presence can take IoT to a level we have only just imagined.

The AI unveils IoT potential

As AI has become vital for IoT deployments and applications, an apparent shift is seen in the number of organisations opting for AI. Moreover, a sharp rise in venture capital investment in IoT conveys to us that AI is going to be the future of technology-driven companies. Now, organisations try to spread the reach of their products and services worldwide by acquiring other companies which have AI and IoT as their base. They even hunt for vendors who provide integrated AI capabilities.

Due to an AI’s ability to quickly make deliverable insights from data, it plays an important role in business decision making. Machine learning is an important AI technology, which helps analyse customer behavior and identify anomalies in the data that devices generate in different forms.

As compared to traditional business intelligence tools, companies find that they have a significant advantage in analysing data better along with making faster operational predictions than threshold-based monitoring systems. These businesses are able to successfully use Big Data and AI to derive useful nuggets of business intelligence. Computer vision and speech recognition are some of the AI technologies, which can provide insight from data that would otherwise need human review. Therefore, AI and IoT make a powerful combination which saves from downtime, boosts up operational efficiency, and develops risk management.

Let’s talk about what AI and IoT have to offer

AI and IoT together are a force that cannot be ignored. Not only have they changed the world but are in the process of changing the future. Let’s talk a little about what AI and IoT can bring to the technology table.

The power must stay on

To understand how AI can control and integrate with IoT, take an example of the thermostat. For this purpose, consider it to be an IoT device. What if it weren’t? What would happen if the local power utility experiences brownouts on a hot day? The system would overheat or short circuit, and the utility staff would have to spend a lot of money to bring them back to speed.

However, in an IoT landscape, the staff could check the number of devices connected to the system then decide on how to prevent a brownout, for example, by raising the existing temperature. When the AI is inbuilt, the staff could predict an upcoming brownout and take necessary actions to prevent overheating or short-circuiting. Moreover, the AI can act in a sophisticated way by keeping the thermostats stable at temperature sensitive facilities like refrigerated warehouses. The addition of AI to the system has taken everyday situations to higher levels, which result in better outcomes, particularly prescriptive or proactive.

Staying healthy is what IoT ensures

Humans are attracted by luxury. Apple watches and Fitbit watches are in trend, and these sensors embedded watches have given a way for doctors to recommend better diagnosis. Now, wearable sensors not just read your heartbeat and count calories, they are also capable of sending alerts to your doctors when they detect the risk of a heart attack.

Danish Wadhwa

This is one side of the picture. Let’s consider when AI is also a part of IoT wearables. In this case, it would map out the closest ambulance at your current location while simultaneously alerting your doctor and hospital. This saves you precious time that could be the difference between life and death. According to a case study, AI has the potential to predict heart attack better than doctors.

The more the sensors, the higher the efficiency and security

AI plays a role in two important areas: system design and security. IoT enrolls different types of sensors from basic to advanced devices that give examples of core programming. The constant effort of making each layer of IoT smarter occurs every day. With the development of AI, a bulk of data generated by IoT devices makes it easy to check where sensors could be embedded in machines to enhance decision making. This can even avoid a system’s overbuilding by evaluating what type of data is worth mining and what data needs to be ignored. In this regard, using basic sensors can save you money.

AI makes the IoT world secure by tracking intruders faster than human beings. The role of machine learning in predicting IoT device behaviour can help to fix cybersecurity. This trend is on the rise. Sometimes, intruders can use this technology to analyse a system’s weakness and hack them. However, while there are hackers, there are also companies and nonprofit organisations who are working to constantly fix these loopholes (a regular battle of wits, we like to say). All in all, there are many essential benefits that IoT and AI offer if used wisely.

Bottom line

The future is likely that every IoT device uses AI in one or another way. The total experience of IoT comes when you can gain insights from hidden sets of data. Though most existing techniques don’t scale to IoT volumes, the future of IoT depends on machine learning to discover patterns and enhance every facet of life.

The author of this blog is Danish Wadhwa

About the author

The author, Danish Wadhwa is a strategic thinker and an IT pro. With more than six years of experience in the digital marketing industry, he says he is more than a results-driven individual, he is well-versed in providing high-end technical support, optimising sales and automating tools to stimulate productivity for businesses.

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