Big data the lifeblood of AI - but needs the right connectivity.
By Joe Caccioppoli, Head of Growth and New Business, Chorus
As Artificial Intelligence continues to evolve at pace, there’s less chatter in 2024 about adopting AI technologies and more on how AI can be integrated into business operations to enable greater efficiencies and data-driven insights.
Because AI is reliant on data, and lots of it, more data analytics companies are emerging to help companies solve business problems.
Today, AI is being used across a wide range of industries, for everything from transport data analytics, digital billboards, water, CCTVs and to monitor construction sites for discharge and pollutants. The lifeblood behind these real-world applications is Internet of Things (IoT), which provides the means to detect and capture what’s going on in different environments.
To ensure AI models are optimised, they need big bandwidth which – over a technology like fibre – provides a reliable and consistent connection that allows data to be transmitted quickly and efficiently for real-time monitoring and decision making. A consistent connection is crucial – even low bandwidth smart cameras can be compromised if they’re unable to transmit data reliably, especially when tasked with time-critical tasks like surveillance.
Video is the ultimate sensor
Today, video content is king and, with more accurate information than still images, it generates large amounts of data. Big data fuels AI systems, enabling them to identify patterns, make predictions and gain insights previously unattainable. The amount of data collected is a big driver in the quality of analysis too, important for any high-risk business decisions being made off the back of AI outputs.
Low latency key
To ensure timely responses, IoT applications need low latency. Big-bandwidth fibre technology reduces latency by allowing data to be uploaded and transmitted quickly and reliably for real-time interactions between devices and systems.
More flexible solutions
For businesses looking at AI to tackle business problems, it’s important to consider the availability of big bandwidth fibre connectivity in the mix. Chorus’ Smart Location solution provides high bandwidth business fibre to enable more flexible and accessible AI and IoT solutions, removing the reliance on hardware and edge computing.
With plenty of use cases already in New Zealand – everything from improving customer experience to reducing carbon emissions and helping doctors to more accurately diagnose patients remotely – there’s little doubt that over the next decade AI is going to transform how businesses operate.
To encourage innovation and allow IoT devices to provide the proliferation of data that these AI technologies need, it’s essential to have the right connectivity to support it.
The convergence of IoT and AI will continue to grow, and this will mean less human effort on monitoring things and more emphasis on decision making. Anything that requires monitoring assets, monitoring the environment, real-time automation and real-time decisions needs rock solid connectivity behind it.
For more information: chorus.co.nz
