Cognitive IoT

What will shape the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2019? Cognitive IoT. On my #AskTheCEO show, I recently interviewed guest Sudha Jamthe, CEO of IoT Disruptions and Professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto. I asked Sudha how she defines Cognitive IoT and her answer was “the strategic combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with IoT.”

The Data Deluge

We know AI is evolving at an exponential rate. Robots used to be characters in comic books and films. Today, we have real-life robots in a variety of sizes, walking, running, and jumping, and even telling jokes on late-night TV. And a Japanese news station has even introduced an android news reader.

With industry analysts predicting over 50 billion IoT devices within the next few years, companies and government authorities are going to have real-time access to massive streams of data, the likes of which we never thought possible. It will be virtually impossible for humans alone to process this amount of data in any sort of meaningful manner. AI will no longer be a “nice to have,” but mission critical for businesses to remain competitive.

Integrating AI into your company’s digitization strategy gives access to actionable insights from the new data deluge, not just the data from cloud-connected software, services, chatbots, and devices, but ALL online data sources globally — simultaneously and instantaneously. This superhero-like capability creates the opportunity for you to program autonomous, decision-making capabilities into your workflows. One example of this that I discussed with Sudha is the scenario of a person running on a treadmill.

Today, we can monitor the person’s heart rate and ask the person to input their age and weight. Assuming no underlying health issues, the average 20-year old has a higher tolerance for physical stress than their 90-year old counterpart. With currently available technology, if the heart rate monitor spikes above a pre-determined threshold the treadmill can issue a warning not just to the individual but to the designated people in their network, including the capability of sending messages to gym staff, family members, caregivers, and even first responders.

Smart Cameras

Smart cameras and facial recognition technologies are rapidly becoming ubiquitous. China is aggressively deploying smart cameras. By 2021, China is on track to install 570 million stationary smart cameras for public surveillance. Right out of an episode of Black Mirror, they will be able to scan public places to identify criminals and track behavior for a “social credit system” designed to digitally rank all the citizens.

The US government has also begun implementing smart cameras with facial recognition technology at the Mexican border to positively identify people driving into the United States. To quote Sudha, “our faces will soon be our primary form of ID.” For anyone who thinks this statement is far-fetched, Apple and Huawei have already mainstreamed facial recognition, Apple on its last two generations of iPhones and Huawei on its flagship Mate 20 Pro.

Cognitive IoT

How will this technology shape the world that we live in? Let’s apply Cognitive IoT to our treadmill example above. You hop on the treadmill. A smart cameras scans and positively identifies you. IoT sensors measure your weight and begin measuring your heart rate. AI pulls up your medical profile, the report from your last visit to your cardiologist, and yes, your designated contacts. You start getting fatigued. Based on all of the available data plus the output from the heart rate monitor, the AI-powered brain of the treadmill makes the autonomous decision to stop the treadmill and notify your doctor and caregivers with all of the relevant and privacy-authorized data. While the treadmill has the ability to summon paramedics if needed, it has just stopped you from having a heart attack before it started.

This example just scratches the surface of our upcoming capabilities in 2019 and beyond. What new opportunities do you think Cognitive IoT, the combination of AI and IoT will provide us?

About the Author

Avrohom is the founder of #AskTheCEO, an online technology thought leadership community, where people come to learn about the latest trends in technology, free from sales pitches, jargon, and calls to action.

Avrohom has over 20 years of technical leadership experience in Telecom, where he helped businesses around the world to install and maintain their communication systems and contact centers. He is a top-ranked global IoT expert by Postscapes.com with a large worldwide following on Twitter and is a frequent speaker on using technology to accelerate revenue growth.

Listen to Avrohom share the latest technology trends, tools, and best practices on #AskTheCEO — broadcast on YouTube, with all shows available on iTunes and Sound Cloud.