AoT, the next generation IoT?

The IoT is described by Wikipedia as follows:

The?Internet of things?(IoT) describes devices with?sensors, processing ability,?software?and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the?Internet?or other communications networks.

The term “internet of things” was first coined by Peter T. Lewis as early as 1985 to describe things that are connected to the internet.??Almost 40 years later, it is still a term in regular use to describe an ever-growing list of applications.??Arguably, the use of the term IoT has become so widespread that its utility in describing common attributes of systems has been substantially diluted.??In 2023 what, if anything, is not captured by the term IoT?

It is now, perhaps, more useful to describe systems that are not part of the IoT or, at least, have distinctive characteristics that differ from the essence of the IoT – for example, in the persistence of their connectivity.??As more and more intelligence migrates to the edge devices, they become increasingly autonomous, such that they are capable of sensing, inferring and acting independently – without the need to defer to a greater intelligence in the cloud to fulfil their mission.

These “Autonomous Things” have been evolving for some time.??A self-driving car is probably the most prominent example – unable to rely upon its connectivity to maintain its utility and safety, the autonomous vehicle packs a tremendous amount of local intelligence and autonomy.??At the other end of the complexity spectrum, the humble voice-operated light switch, where the headache of connecting to the internet yields little or no reward to the user.

In practice of course, the vast majority of things will connect to the internet from time to time, perhaps for provisioning or maintenance.??However, this could be under very controlled circumstances, in the same way we might visit the doctor or the dentist, or take our cars to be serviced.??Between these visits these devices can remain autonomous.

In the days since the term IoT was first coined, many of us have been forced to become amateur network engineers.??Soon, we may be challenged to become amateur network security specialists.??With the relative benefits of permanent connectivity diminishing and security and privacy concerns increasing, it’s conceivable that a lack of connectivity (an air-gap), and a corresponding increase in autonomy might become a marketable virtue – driving?a wave of innovation in the semiconductor industry that will cut the internet umbilical and deliver on an “Autonomy of Things”.