Artificial Intelligence of Things: how to use in the industry

Industry 4.0 is bringing to the day-to-day in factories various technologies and innovative ways of working.

Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) is a promise to make all these changes happen in an organized and beneficial way. As a consequence, it completely changes people’s relationship with their work environment.

Artificial intelligence and the internet of things are two powerful pillars of industry 4.0. They are already part of the daily life of some industries in Brazil and worldwide.

Sometimes managers end up unable to use these pillars to the best of their possibilities, and even more complex is understanding how AIoT works. It is a union of artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Therefore, in this article you will understand the concept of artificial intelligence of things. Then, the applications that already exist and what will still emerge for industries. Finally, you will understand the difficulties of dealing with AIoT.

What is Artificial Intelligence of Things?

AIoT is the acronym used for the term Artificial Intelligence of Things.

Exactly, it’s not a mistake in the way IoT is written.

AIoT is part of Industry 4.0 and enables processes to be increasingly intelligent.

If you are not yet familiar with this term, Industry 4.0 is a fusion of industrial automation with technology through concepts. Some examples are IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing, and Cyber-Physical Systems.

Additionally, AIoT’s proposal is the union between two forms of digital transformation: the Internet of Things, with the Artificial Intelligence of Machines. Thus enabling more efficient operations in companies, and a much more strategic interaction between humans and machines.

As a result, better productivity results and data analysis capabilities are some of the direct consequences.

One of the biggest challenges when industries use IoT in their production processes is that employees do not have the techniques or availability to manage, analyze and interpret the various data that comes in all the time.

Using Artificial Intelligence, you can automate this process as well. And generate learning as AI begins to understand the processes as a whole.

Therefore, it can be considered that AIoT creates innovative solutions. Above all, systems are improved and decisions are faster and more assertive. It happens when used within the Industry 4.0 strategy, and together with the other pillars of this industrial revolution.

The concept of AI and IoT

As we mentioned, Artificial Intelligence of Things is a mix of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).

But these pillars of industry 4.0 are also powerful technologies separately.

AI is a constantly evolving technology that enables machine learning to accomplish tasks. In a nutshell, intelligent machines copy human patterns of reasoning.

This learning is a result of a lot of quickly combined data that is processed and become standards that are interpreted and learned by machines.

The Internet of Things, on the other hand, is a digital connection of “things” with integration of various systems and devices.

Thus, IoT is a connection of various devices and objects, rather than people, to the internet. And by making this connection, many paths and possibilities open up. Such as the integration of information to be used strategically by managers.

In everyday life, the internet of things is used on cell phones, televisions and any device connected to an internet communication network.

AIoT general applications

Even though this type of technology still seems very distant to us, AIoT applications are wide. They range from people’s daily routine to specific industrial applications.

In fact, the only requirement is that a large amount of data is generated by sensors connected to the IoT. And that it is possible to have an intelligent system processing the data and making decisions from the analyzes performed.

One of the companies that plans to change the world we live in today by using artificial intelligence of things is Xiaomi. The Chinese cellphone maker plans to create a world where different devices would be interconnected. And this connection would be driven by artificial intelligence.

Another example are car companies that use sensors that can recognize dangerous movements. And then, quickly activate safety mechanisms to prevent accidents.

And you may have heard of examples in healthcare (such as remotely performed surgeries). Also in marketing (consumer behavior analysis), and agriculture (using sensors that measure temperature and humidity, for example). And lastly, in human resources (from profile analysis and automated selection of professionals).

AIoT application in industries

If everyday applications are already so diverse, it is clear that AIoT can be used in many ways in industries.

In industry 4.0, equipment connected to the artificial intelligence of things is capable of self-correction and self-repair.

This is because from the signals detected by the sensors, and the systems learning, the machines begin to actively detect faults and variables.

Thus, the result is very positive: better executed analysis and decisions and growth for the industry as a whole.

Examples of AIoT use in industry

An example in the industry is the use of cameras with image sensors. These cameras send multiple images via IoT for artificial intelligence analysis.

This way, the images are analyzed and actions are taken quickly. This speeds up the process and saves time and money.

This type of analysis can also be done through sound recordings, besides images. And the trend is that this type of sensor will be the standard for industries. This has many benefits in the short term.

A successful case of using AIoT was at a Hungarian oil and gas company. The industry had trouble refining its data.

Although the company already used IoT sensors to capture the data, the industry also began to use artificial intelligence. The objective was to gather information on fuel contents.

As a result of this decision of uniting the two technologies, the company has saved more than US$ 600,000 a year.

Similarly, in the logistics area, an AIoT system can perform all inventory management using different IoT and AI skills.

The location and validation of the items is done by the IoT. This is because item specifications are registered on the network. However, the decision of which products will be shipped, their order and time of shipment, is made by the AI.

Difficulties in dealing with AIoT

But of course there are some challenges in using AIoT as well as other pillars of the 4.0 industry.

The first time a system integration is done, or a new system is used, problems will be detected, but it is important that they are quickly fixed so that the whole process is not harmed.

In Brazil, industry managers face so many budget cuts and everyday need to adapt to a new reality that sometimes the project of modernizing an industrial plant may end up for next month/year.

However, as we have already commented here, the benefits are very large, so it is necessary, even if it is not an easy task, to invest in industry 4.0 and believe in its potential.

For AIoT, which is a new and exclusive technology to be implemented, it requires greater computational capacity, data integration and more skilled professionals.

In addition, factors such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) must be considered so that responsible systems and people do not make wrong decisions about the use of data acquired through AIoT.

However, even though the challenges are big, technology is in full development and being used by many industries.

Therefore, you need to get organized and start using it as soon as possible so that the best results are seen as soon as possible.