The internet of things (IoT), machine-learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) are concepts you’ve probably heard or read about, but chances are you may not fully understand their differences and the impact they can have on your business. We’re here to help explain how they relate to each other, how they each manipulate your data, and why they matter.
This blog series will help break down how your data is handled, starting at the beginning with how the IoT has revolutionized how we interact with technology, all the way through to AI (Artificial Intelligence), into our ever-evolving future. To make things a little more interesting, we’ll also talk about one of our favorite movies, The Terminator. If you haven’t seen them, you may want to go stream them now. (Don’t worry, we’ll wait.)
Stage one of smart technology begins with the Internet of Things. In its most simple form, the Internet of Things (IoT) is an internal network of devices that communicate, share, and interpret exchanged data. In today’s world, you can use an app on your phone to control the lights at your house, you can start your car remotely with a key, and even answer your front door when the doorbell rings. This technology has only been around for about a decade, but it’s the first step in our journey.
Once all of the devices are communicating with each other, data is constantly being collected about routine processes, such as when each devices is used, who is using them, and more. For example, an IoT thermostat will relay data about the temperature setting, day of the week, time of day and more in order to learn the user’s preferences. Then your data is funneled into the next phase of this process.
Now we’re going to jump into the Terminator part of the story.
This internal, wireless, electronic communication that allows us to get rid of all the cluttered wires and cables is typically seen in everyday life without sacrificing the ability to send data needed to get the task at hand done. Think of the T-800 Terminator model, played by Arnold, from the first Terminator movie. The T-800 could communicate with the Skynet network without having to be plugged into a server and had a specific goal.
The T-800 model collected data, including information about Sarah Connor and how to wipe her out. This Terminator model was structured, but almost too much for its own good. The lack of flexibility that the early program/technology had was eventually its downfall as it was defeated and fell short of its goal.
We will uncover the next step of the process – IoT data collection – in the next blog post in this series. As the Terminator said, “I’ll be back!”