Internet of Things - Executive Handbook 2016 (eBook)

Oozi Cats, Ceo, Telit Communications PLC (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016 | 1. Auflage
4 Seiten
Books on Demand (Verlag)
978-3-7392-4528-7 (ISBN)

Infos

The Internet of Things is fundamentally changing the face of global markets, transforming the technology landscape and impacting societal trends as well as shifts in organizational structures and processes. Therefore, global executives are looking for technological lighthouses, disruptive strategies and inspiring ideas to help them navigate through the glittering mist of new chances and threats. The Internet of Things Executive Handbook brings together the best and most innovative thinkers and practitioners, acknowledged industry leaders and aggressive, game-changing newcomers who define the future of the IoT. It is dedicated to creating a global, multi-disciplinary network of ideas, inspiring discussions and deep insights.

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ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE & IOT

INTRODUCTION

THE GHOST WITHIN

Factories in which networked and mainly autonomous robots are taking on increasingly challenging assembly jobs, drones that are conquering the civilian market and software that can cut through the largest databases with scalpel-like precision are already a reality. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the front-end of the Internet of Things, the layer where it can develop its enormous potential for efficiency. It is therefore no wonder that the market is now showing incredible momentum after decades of inertia.

However, even this development is only a glimpse into the disruptive potential of AI. „Mental power is at least as important for progress and development… as physical power. So, a vast and unprecedented boost to mental power should be a great boost to humanity, just as the earlier boost to physical power so clearly was,“ wrote MIT researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee in their bestselling book „The Second Machine Age“.

AI, the real exemplification of deus ex machina, will help us to meet the challenge of demographic change and increase the security of our vehicles. Its implementation will make error-free medical diagnosis possible and overcome language barriers. Only through the use of artificial intelligence can the terabytes of data that accumulate each day be interpreted and used. As a consequence, the coming years will see the emergence of previously unknown services and revolutionary business models – a development that really will herald the dawn of a new era.

WHERE ARE WE NOW AND WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?

The 21st century has already brought remarkable technological achievements. The substantial progress made over the last decade in computing, big data, data algorithms and the move to the cloud is currently set to bring artificial intelligence out of the research labs into the real world. We think this trend has wide-ranging implications, not only for information-intensive sectors but also for businesses that rely on highly skilled personnel. Computers are able to read, listen, speak, write, identify images and integrate knowledge at a level near or even superior to humans . The recent advancements create significant opportunities across many industries, but also have immense implications for our society.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND WHERE IS IT NOW?

Major researchers define AI as "the study and design of intelligent agents, where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success” . In other words, it simply means that machines tackle problems that were previously believed to be solvable only by the human brain . We believe AI is on the cusp of a rapid period of accelerated growth in its use and in the applications. The improvements in the capability and economics of hardware, but also device components such as sensors, cameras, radars, or lasers have resulted in more connected devices and a lot more data being available for analysis.

Fig. 1 / Market size of digital assistant systems (in million USD)

Google search is currently the best example of AI to date: What makes this algorithm powerful is its capability of learning from millions of users searching, ignoring and clicking through results each day, teaching it to yield better results every time . We think AI can similarly be applied to continually refine decision making in any information-driven business model to streamline costs, enable more efficient allocation of resources, improve product quality or accelerate innovation. AI-based technologies are currently used mostly in data-heavy sectors. Apple’s launch of Siri in 2011 is an example of AI-aided digital assistants on our smartphones. Fig. 1 shows the expected growth of the market size of digital assistant systems. We think this is perhaps the example of AI that has grabbed the most mindshare of consumers by making shifts between voice and text commands and between reactive and pre-emptive search results and recommendations. This is the difference between searching for weather forecasts on smartphones versus them pre-emptively advising users to take an umbrella. As they learn more and improve further, it is imaginable that these devices will start answering queries before they were asked.

WHERE CAN WE SEE AI NEXT?

So far, AI has been rather limited to solving narrow problems, such as producing Google’s search results. While these programs are powerful, they are unable to recognise or respond to new environments in the way people can. But experts are predicting that “human level” artificial general intelligence (AGI) will arrive by 2030. By 2020 they are forecasting the creation of a system with basic version, basic sound processing, basic movement control and basic language abilities, with all of these things being essentially learnt rather than pre-programmed.

We believe AI will be highly disruptive and should deliver enormous benefits. Unfortunately, this change will not be without a period of disorientating and uncomfortable change. According to the Economist, jobs are at high risk of being automated in 47% of the occupational categories. Everybody from highly skilled doctors to truck drivers will face competition from digital labour, and we believe this risk is only intensifying with the rise of AI. We think part of the solution will be to place more emphasis on educating workers in high-skills and high valuable fields such as mathematics, science and engineering as well as in product development and marketing/sales. For long-term oriented investors we believe the benefits of artificial intelligence will revolutionize business processes as well as improve efficiencies. As a result we are shareholders of leading companies in this attractive field with a special focus on safety and security.

INTERVIEW: HOW SMART ARE OUR FACTORIES?

“EVEN THE BEST STRATEGY IS POINTLESS IF PEOPLE CAN’T EXPRESS THEIR CREATIVITY”

What is the significance of artificial intelligence in general and the concept of “deep learning” for the implementation of successful Industry 4.0 business models?

AI and deep learning are without doubt key elements of the technology foundation of the Internet of Things. The fundamental problem of IT systems is, of course, their underlying binary structure. The ability to incorporate a means of dealing with ambiguities into this yes / no model – making it possible to detect patterns and correlations – is of enormous relevance for the analysis of big data, of whole clusters of parameters. This is what needs to be done in order to automate complex decision-making processes and thereby make both machines and factories truly smart.

How smart are our factories, then, right now? Are they already smart enough?

Right now we can’t really talk about truly smart factories in the sense of physical and virtual spaces in which all relevant primary products, machines, and information are networked and function to a large degree autonomously. There are pioneers that have in some cases rolled out implementations of individual IoT elements very successfully. But overall, we’re only at the start of the Industrial IoT or Industry 4.0 age. What’s more, the way the topic is being dealt with officially doesn’t reflect the actual stage of development. Firstly, it’s simply not reported when things don’t work out and, secondly, many things now being labeled as “IoT” have in fact been in production for a long time. Overall, therefore, our factories are only just beginning to get smart. And naturally they’re not smart enough yet.

Why is the transformation taking so long?

First of all I’m noticing again and again that most companies are still lacking ideas and roadmaps to tackle the topic effectively. Despite knowing about the transformative potential of IoT, they are often unable to identify an approach to exploit it in their own business.

Secondly, there are various regional factors. In Germany, for example, we often deal with the topic on an overly theoretical level. The topics of reference architectures, standards, and security concepts are discussed intensively, and the industrial value creation is considered as a whole. As for experimenting and trying things out – these are given too little attention and businesses don’t know how to proceed.

At the same time, that’s the strength of the US, where companies focus much more on outputs, new business models and revenue opportunities, and are prepared to get started with the principle of “learn as we go”. They don’t have the industry standards that we have in Central Europe, something that makes radical changes in production more difficult.

In China, in turn, they’re seeing the opportunity to close the gap with the leading industrial countries by implementing Industry 4.0 standards. However, in doing that they’re attempting to miss out certain stages of development – in other words the consistent implementation of lean management and manufacturing principles. The thing is, you don’t get far by digitizing bad processes, as Chinese companies will discover over the next few years.

What strategic adjustments will need to be made in order to capitalize on the opportunities offered by AI, deep learning, and other IoT technologies?

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Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.2.2016
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-10: 3-7392-4528-X / 373924528X
• ISBN-13: 978-3-7392-4528-7 / 9783739245287