( 1st Prize winning entry in GZA Global Essay Competition, 2022)
By : Ms. Garima Shukla
1. Introduction-
‘Prediction is said to be difficult, especially of the future’. Predicting future is not so easy but we can try. As well said by Dave Waters “Predicting the future isn’t magic, it’s artificial intelligence”. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that has been gotten a lot of buzz in films, books, companies, and a variety of other places. AI is dedicated to creating intelligent machines that would learn to work and react like humans. In AI, there are two types of thought: weak AI and strong AI. Because they work within a narrow pre-defined range of functions, the so-called personal assistants we are so fond of nowadays, such as Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa, are considered weak AI algorithms. Then there are machines that have their own minds and can make judgements without human intervention. These programmes might be classified as powerful AI.
AI is becoming more prevalent in Internet of Things (IoT) applications and deployments. The IoT is a system of interrelated, internet-connected objects that are able to collect and transfer information and data over a wireless network without human intervention. The IoT is transforming the way we interact with our devices at home, work, and throughout our cities. It is very interesting to see when Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are integrated (AIoT), a more connected and comfort future is possible. As AIoT recently has become the talk of the town and its fusion continues to revolutionise the basic ways in which we live our lives and handle data, it is becoming more widespread.
So where is AIoT heading next? We can see these trends all around us like wearable, smart home, smart city and industry devices etc. While AIoT tech is still in its infancy. The future of AIoT is changing tedious, time and revenue consuming, manual jobs, into strategically automated tasks and systems. Not only it has changed our daily life but also made it comfortable and unique. We will discuss this technology, its application, and future scope in the essay.
2. Applications –
The AI Key to Unlock IoT Potential-
AI is driver of a growing role in IoT applications and implementations. Both expenditure and acquisitions in start-ups that merge AI and IoT have climbed over the past few years. Major vendors of IoT policy software now offering integrated AI capabilities such as machine learning-based analytics.
The value of AI in this context is its ability to quickly wring insights from data. Machine learning is an AI technique that allows smart sensors and gadgets to automatically discover patterns and detect anomalies in datasets such as changes in meteorological temperature, pressure, humidity, air quality, vibration, and sound. Machine learning systems can produce operational predictions up to 20 times faster and with more accuracy than traditional business intelligence tools, which typically watch for numeric thresholds to be passed.
Other AI technologies viz. speech recognition and computer vision can help to extract insight from data that used to require human review. AI applications for IoT enable future society to avoid unplanned downtime, increase operating efficiency, spawn new products and services, and enhance risk management.
AIoT’s Wonderment
The development of gadgets embedded with sensors and intelligent software has broadened their applicability in a variety of industries. These devices serve an important role in a variety of industries, including industrial, manufacturing, healthcare, agricultural, research, climate change, and future projections etc.
AIoT in Manufacturing field- The manufacturing and industrial sectors have gained significant benefits from AIoT devices that help in the monitoring of all machine activities. The devices are linked together so that they can communicate effectively and be operated without the need of human interaction. These smart gadgets may also be used to monitor the quality of the products at periodic times. As a sum, it can be concluded that the development of such smart technologies is assisting in the improvement of machine performance, production, and customer experience.
AIoT in Medical sector- In the healthcare industry, AIoT devices playing important role. It gives birth to linked gadgets such as wearables, which allow doctors to keep track of their patients’ various activities. People may also use these gadgets to keep track of their health on a daily basis.
AIoT in Transportation- The introduction of GPS and sensors in the devices has minimized the difficulty of locating the exact locations and points. This reduces the effort and time wastage of transportation companies in searching the areas. They can deliver the online products more efficiently with any kind of delay. Thus, AIoT devices help in cutting down the cost as the monitoring, tracking of the vehicles and locations can be managed easily by using smart devices.
AIoT in Household things- The utilization of smart appliances in the home empowers us to convey our family work with great ease and calmness. The working of these gadgets can be controlled from a distance by utilizing PCs and smart mobile phones. Moreover, it also enhances the customer experience.
AIoT in Agriculture, research and climate change- The application of AIoT in agriculture is extremely beneficial to the development and production of various crops. Smart gadgets aid in the collection of data from the environment, which may then be analysed and action performed. Using equipment with built-in sensors, soil characteristics may be easily detected. These technologies can quickly assess the situation and recommend a crop that can be cultivated with ease and yield in the future. AIoT is assisting in the development and implementation of various climate models with future forecasts, which is beneficial in predicting natural disasters and assisting humanity.
Different industries have benefited from the emergence of the smart network interface. We can find these devices everywhere around us because they become an integral part of our life.
3. Future Society & AIoT
There are different kinds of new innovations taking place in different regions of the world every now and then. AIoT is also one such invention. It has gained surplus attention of the globe and is now being used in different fields.
The need of the internet is very necessary nowadays. Internet, sensors, and advanced technologies have made usual gadgets turn into smart ones. The integration of these smart devices is referred to as the AIoT. At this time, the globe has over 4 billion smart gadgets deployed. In the following years, the numbers will more than double. It’s because, in the next years, more people will utilise the internet. The enormous network of smart devices will aid in the retrieval of massive amounts of data in a matter of seconds. This, in turn, will benefit businesses by increasing product diversity, product delivery efficiency, and so on. The AIoT has a lot of promise in the future, but there are some problems that is important to be solved in order to be a successful technology. Sustaining global competitiveness requires ongoing productivity gains: Innovations and the related productivity gains sustain or even increase local jobs
The AIoT is assisting the societal transformations that we are currently seeing. Services are evolving from products. Many people are choosing for ride-sharing services rather than buying a car. Rather than paying manufacturers for engine maintenance, airlines are discovering methods to pay hourly for times when the aircraft’s engine is powering. If your service necessitates the use of a physical asset, it’s preferable if that item can operate itself… In that situation, AIoT comes in useful, allowing providers to remotely monitor and gather data – how it’s operating, how it’s being utilised, and environmental conditions – all of which may assist automate a lot of asset management.
4. Conclusion
It is not easy to deny that digital technologies create fascinating benefits for people and societies. This has become particularly shown over the different waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has demonstrated how online marketplaces and role of AIoT have become part of society’s critical infrastructure and the Work from home is becoming popular and cost effective way to work in every sector. The AIoT has widened the aspect of internet. Different smart devices influence our day to day life in travel, shopping, lifestyle, health, daily works, research fields, climate predictions etc. The AIoT are not only restricted to the household objects but they have their wide applications in different sectors. AIoT is drastically important to our future because it forms the very foundation of computer learning. Through AIoT, computers have the capability to harness huge amounts of data and use their intelligence to make appropriate decisions and discoveries in fractions of the time that it would take humans. AI and IoT together becoming responsible for everything from medical breakthroughs in disease research to cutting-edge climate change research.
In this way AIoT is having a positive characteristic for the society. Yet there are many challenges but efficient working in this direction will deduct the drawbacks in the upcoming future and make it a technology with great potential.
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About the author
Garima Shukla (26 yrs) is a research scholar pursuing her PhD from CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. Her research interests include using AI/ML techniques in characterization of aerosol composition. Garima has completed her masters from Gorakhpur University where she was awarded gold medal for academic excellence. Fondness towards Science and Research is what always encourages her to read and research. Apart from her academic interests, she nurtures interests in gaming, mythology and religious literature. Recent interest in expressing her thoughts and views through blogging has made her write her first blog here ” A future society run by the internet of things and artificial intelligence”. She loves eating, chilling and Bike riding.