Artificial Intelligence Brings New Possibilities to IoT

Published on 11 January 2018

In an era where data is touted as the new currency for digital transformation, one can hardly delve into the Internet of Things (IoT) without discussing its symbiotic relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). As such new technologies continue to gain traction worldwide, the discussion has evolved from what defines IoT and AI to how they can drive business value.

The synergy between AI and IoT

Using sensors to gather information from a myriad of sources such as wearable and smart devices, IoT offers the ability to process massive amounts of data in ways that humans are unable to and relies on cloud computing to connect the data to its destination. But on its own, IoT is simply a repository of raw data that is waiting to be analysed – this is where AI truly shines.

Through technical and specialised research, AI provides insight into the data which IoT collects by using intelligent machines that are capable of learning, planning, reasoning, perceiving, complex problem solving and manipulating objects. A marriage of the two technologies thus enables businesses to make informed decisions and to plan next steps based on quantitative data that is collected in real-time.

Amazon Web Services gets serious about AI and IoT

Boasting a user base of over 22,000 nonprofit organizations, 8,000 academic establishments, and about 3,000 government, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is often seen as a dominant force in the cloud services market.

Even the Singapore Government is won over by the service’s ability to meet peak demands and address security issues through its cloud-based web-hosting platform. Tan Eng Pheng, senior director for clusters group at the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) credits the government’s robust patch management processes to its cloud-based Content Website Platform (CWP). Tan also shared that CWP leverages a slew of AWS services such as Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Load Balancing to host some 380 government websites.

Now, with the launch of 12 new automated services at Amazon’s annual recent re:Invent conference, it is clear that AWS is placing serious bets on IoT, AI and machine learning moving forward. The move unlocks even more opportunities for businesses to improve their offerings through on the cloud, as opposed to the conventional, on-premise manual provisioning. Here are some of the latest AI and IoT apps and services to get excited about:

Amazon Polly

Amazon Polly is a cloud service that specializes in converting text into speech. It can be used to develop apps that help develop customer engagement and interaction. With support for many languages and various lifelike voices, Polly enables building speech-enabled apps that work in multiple locations. A few common cases for Amazon Polly include newsreaders, games, eLearning platforms, and more.

Amazon Rekognition Video

This is a video analysis service that detects activities and recognizes traits of specific characteristics. It analyzes videos and returns specific labels of activities, faces, people, and objects for easy identification. It has easy-to-use APIs that help with immediate response for various customers.

Amazon SageMaker

The SageMaker is a service that makes it possible for developers and data technicians to quickly build, develop, and deploy machine learning models. It helps by eliminating barriers that usually retard developers who will like to utilize machine learning.

AWS Greengrass

AWS Greengrass is a software that provides a more secure and safe way of running local commute, data caching, sync capabilities, and much more. With it, connected devices are able to run AWS Lambda functions, sync devices, and communicate with other devices in a secure space, even without Internet connectivity.

AWS IoT Device Management

This management tool helps to organize, onboard, monitor, and manage IoT devices. It helps you to register devices (whether individually or in bulk), and it manages permissions so that these devices are always protected. From there, the IoT Device Management console can be used to organize devices and monitor them.

Summary

When deployed in unison, AI and IoT are set to play even more significant roles in helping businesses offer value to their customers, including improved operational efficiency and avoiding unplanned downtimes.

Whether you are in the Commercial, Enterprise, Education or Public Sector industry looking for top-notch cloud solutions to better manage your company assets, here at AsiaPac, we have a dedicated team whom have worked closely with our Partners to warm you up with our expertise and building cost-competitive projects. Email us at enquiries@asiapac.com.sg for a consultation on your business needs today.

*AsiaPac is awarded the Amazon Web Services ASEAN Consulting Partner of the Year 2017.

Tags: Amazon Web Services, Artificial intelligence, Internet of things, IOT Singapore,

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