Introduction
You might have heard about IoT over discussions over the best artificial intelligence course online or Machine Learning systems. It is quite likely for you to think that both are deeply related to each other. This could not be further from the truth. The fact is that it is a one-way street when it comes to the relationship between IoT and Artificial Intelligence. IoT is the infrastructure to get real-time sensor-based data to the cloud for either storage or fly processing by AI/Machine Learning-based algorithms.
In the following sections, we shall attempt to look at artificial intelligence and cloud technology that paves the way for the widespread use of IoT. But before we get cracking on this, it is important to understand IoT in greater detail, the scenarios where IoT devices are used. We shall also look at how IoT devices help improve the Artificial Intelligence space and vice versa.
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What is IoT?
A complete IoT (Internet of Things) system is a system of electronic devices that include hardware and software components to pass on critical data collected onsite to the AI-enabled system.
The hardware components that makeup IoT are sensing hardware. Sensing hardware includes sensor devices and connectivity options to the internet. All the IoT device has to do is collect sensor detected data and transmit it to a central server where the application software is ready to receive input from multiple IoT devices. You can then use the data on a real-time basis or process batch-wise to derive meaningful information about the host environment.
The host environment is the place where the IoT device is installed and sensing it every moment. IoT devices should also include supporting hardware to connect to the central server, either through mobile networks, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other suitable communication medium.
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Practical IoT Hacking: The Definitive Guide to Attacking the Internet of Things |
What is the purpose of IoT?
IoT-based AI systems are designed to collect sensor data by the second from many IoT devices to capture the present condition of a host environment. Let’s say the host environment is an ecologically essential but sensitive forest that proves fire incidents. IoT devices are placed at strategic locations that collect information about temperature, wind speed, humidity, and other vitals using various sensors.
All this information is streamed to a central AI application hosted on a server. This application uses this wealth of data to draw a digital picture of the host environment, given by the second update on the weather conditions in the forest. This data can be monitored and analysed to predict the possibility of forest fires so that you can initiate timely actions to control the forest fire. Thus, IoT has helped an AI-powered system make timely and intelligent interventions with no input from humans.
How AI will facilitate IoT sales
With the popularity of AI-enabled applications increasing by the day and the easy availability of connectivity options, IoTs are now a popular component of any AI-based application. They are so popular that fully packaged and branded IoT hardware is now available like Tile and Core. These devices come with pre-built connectivity options and programming interfaces for easy deployment. The use of IoT is so widespread that they’re a common ingredient in hobby projects.
More AI applications are planned to solve much more significant problems like greenhouse emission analysis or climate change. Projects require hundreds of these indispensable IoT components to read the host environment variables. The examples of forest fire and climate control might be misleading. Remember, the host environment can be any environment that needs constant monitoring, like the temperature inside windmill turbines.
Large-scale AI and Machine Learning applications push up sales of IoT devices. IoT devices in a business environment make sense in a factory or warehouse setup whereby the minute information can be a valuable input to analytical reports and feedback-based improvements.
If the scale of IoT devices is vast, the data gets sent back to Big Data pipelines to be either stored for analysis later or stream processed to get by-the-minute updates.
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IoT is closer to you than you think.
You might have taken IoT devices to be installed for large scale AI applications deployed over a large geographical area. You couldn’t be farther from the truth. The popular wearables that let you connect to your computing device of choice and run many health-related reports for you to assess your current state of fitness and health are also IoT devices.
These are IoT devices that work with individual data sets. Well, it depends if your health data might be used anonymously to arrive at fitness data that apply to an entire city or town.
Future of IoT
There is a vast scope for AI to expand into yet unexplored businesses and social projects. IoT technology will see faster and broader adoption around the globe in the coming years, both in the consumer and corporate markets. Remember Google Glass? It was a wearable that had great potential, but violations had to be discontinued for fear of ethics. The future will bring more such technologies that address ethical issues and further expand the prospects of IoT devices.
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The IoT Hacker’s Handbook: A Practical Guide to Hacking the Internet of Things |
Conclusion
IoT devices have great potential to expand into every walk of life as long as they are not invading individual privacy and violating ethics.
Does the thought of constant monitoring and feedback using customisable IoT devices to power AI and Machine Learning applications excite you?
If yes, then you should signup to learn artificial intelligence and machine learning courses offered on Great Learning for a complete list of AI/Machine Learning courses and programs designed for students starting at any level. Take up artificial intelligence course online to understand the in-depth concepts of AI with ease. To get first-hand experience of AI, have a meaningful chat with the chatbot to know if your training needs can be fulfilled by GreatLearning.
