A seismic shift is shaping the business landscape with the widespread acceptance of the Internet of Things (IoT). Yeah! IoT makes it easy to capture large amounts of data from a large number of sources and connected devices/equipment and machinery, resulting in a deluge of data. However, managing, processing, and analyzing such a monstrous amount of data from countless IoT devices remains a complex challenge.
Moving into the future and making the most of the potential of IoT devices will require investment in innovative technologies. We are witnessing a revolutionary interplay between AI and IoT, a convergence that promises to transform industries, economies, and businesses. AI-embedded IoT can create intelligent machines capable of emulating intelligent behavior and facilitating intelligent decision-making with minimal human intervention.
While IoT revolves around devices communicating with each other over the internet, AI is focused on devices learning from their data and experiences. This article explains why the synergistic operation of IoT and AI is indispensable.
Unlocking the potential of IoT with AI
In essence, IoT involves sensors embedded in machines, which transmit streams of data through Internet connectivity. The five fundamental steps that all IoT services must navigate are create, communicate, aggregate, analyze and act. Undoubtedly, the value of the « Act » depends on the final analysis, thus defining the precise value of IoT during the analysis phase. This is the stage where Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a fundamental role.
AI and IoT: a functional perspective
While IoT is the source of the data, AI has the knack for unlocking answers, providing creativity and context that spur intelligent action. Businesses can make data-driven decisions based on insights generated by AI analysis of sensor data. AI-powered IoT can offer versatile solutions such as:
- Fast and accurate analysis ensuring meaningful insights from data
- Striking a balance between centralized and localized intelligence requirements
- Striking a balance between data privacy and personalization
- cybersecurity protection
Both new start-ups and established corporations are gravitating towards AI technology to fully exploit the potential of IoT. Important IoT platform Vendors such as Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce have begun incorporating AI capabilities into their IoT solutions.
Advantages of AI-enabled IoT
The merging of AI and IoT brings numerous benefits to businesses and consumers, including proactive intervention, personalized experiences, and intelligent automation. Some of the key business advantages derived from merging these two disruptive technologies include:
Increased operational efficiency: AI-enabled IoT can process continuous data streams and discover imperceptible patterns for simple indicators. Machine learning, when combined with AI, can predict operating conditions and identify parameters that need modification for optimal results. For example, Google is leveraging AI to reduce its data center cooling costs through IoT.
Also read: How IoT Wave is driving industrial transformation?
Improved risk management: The integration of AI and IoT allows companies to better understand and forecast a wide range of risks, facilitating automated responses. Therefore, they are better equipped to mitigate financial losses, protect employees, and counter cyber threats. One example of this is Fujitsu, which uses AI to analyze data from wearable devices to ensure worker safety.
Pioneers in new products and services: Natural Language Processing (NLP) is revolutionizing human-machine communication. The combination of IoT and AI can allow companies to speed up data processing and analysis, leading to the creation of new products or the improvement of existing ones. Rolls-Royce, for example, employs AI in the development of IoT-enabled aircraft engine maintenance facilities to detect patterns, predict equipment breakdowns/failures to prevent unplanned downtime, and discover operational insights.
Bolstering the scalability of IoT– An AI-powered IoT ecosystem can analyze and summarize data before transmitting it from one device to another, reducing data volume and enabling connectivity of multiple IoT devices. This is known as scalability.
Also read: AIoT: when AI meets IoT
Reduced costs of unplanned downtime: In industries like offshore oil and gas or industrial manufacturing, equipment breakdown can lead to costly unplanned downtime. AI-enabled IoT enables predictive maintenance that can anticipate equipment failures and schedule routine maintenance, thus avoiding the negative impacts of downtime.
AI and IoT in action: real world examples
A closer look at some companies that have leveraged AI-embedded IoT to improve user experience and create innovative business models can provide a clearer picture:
Smart Manufacturing/Smart Factory: Manufacturing is an industry that has rapidly embraced disruptive technologies such as IoT, AI, deep learning, facial recognition, and robotics. Factory robots, with sensors implanted for data transmission, are getting smarter. Equipped with AI algorithms, these robots can learn from new data, improving the manufacturing process and saving time and resources, enabling a smart factory.
Autonomous Vehicles: Tesla’s self-driving cars epitomize the perfect synergy of IoT and AI. These cars use AI to predict the behavior of pedestrians and vehicles under different conditions, such as road conditions, optimum speed, and weather, thus becoming smarter with every drive.
retail analysis: In the retail industry, multiple data points from cameras and sensors track customer movements and predict checkout times. Consequently, the system can suggest dynamic staffing levels to reduce checkout times and increase cashier productivity.
Also read: How is Ai reinventing the ecommerce industry as we see it today?
Smart Thermostats: A great example of AI-enabled IoT is Nest’s smart thermostat. Based on users’ work schedules and temperature preferences, the smartphone integration can remotely monitor and manage the temperature.
The combination of IoT and AI has the potential to drive innovative solutions and experiences. AI integration with incoming data from IoT devices can bring more value to your network and catalyze business transformation.
The future of AIoT
With the integration of AI, IoT evolves towards a more intelligent system, aiming to make accurate decisions with minimal human intervention. One of the most promising advances in AIoT is the addition of 5G. With its higher bandwidth and lower latency, 5G is poised to facilitate faster transfer of large data files on IoT devices. AIoT could address current operational challenges, such as the cost of effective human capital management or the complexity of supply chains and delivery models.
By addressing the challenges of integrating sensors, networks, clouds and applications while ensuring security, Futurism’s holistic approach IoT Solutions it can help you secure a long-term competitive advantage. We leverage our industry-specific knowledge and expertise in IoT technology to help you transform your business through informed decisions backed by robust IoT and AI solutions.
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AI and IoT: Dynamic Duo Reshaping the Digital World first appeared on Futurism Technologies.