IoT-AI and Networking 3/7

By Motoyuki Matsunaga, Senior Fellow

 Information technology has created 3 evlutions in the modern society.
 The first evolution is internet, which is evolution for information chain. Electronic mails are flying over in te chain system to transfer the information like bucket brigade, and web can easily obtain the information by just clicking in the information sharing system. Both created the digitalized global network.
 The second evlution is internet cloud which is the evolution of information space developed secretly in the backyards. Virtualization technology has made it possible that computers connected in the network can communicate and connect with each other flexibly to progress cloud computing and the calculation and memory potential and ability of the computer are fully utilized. Thanks to the advanced virtualization technology, without keeping the data in our own smartphone we can handle easily and kind of data which stored in the cloud through networked computers. Since around the year 2005 this kind of flexible use of computers has emerged as information platform service and have been commercially popular in the market. A variety of virtual spaces have been created in the world. IoT concept to connect everything is coming out from the huge number of virtual spaces and virtual machines.

The third evolution is the one developed by IoT・AI (Artificial Intelligence) since around the year 2015. This evolution is for the real space, The study on the concept and the system has started that computers are connected with a variety kind of things, recognize and perceive the environment by themselves, and judge the situation autonomously and they can react and behave as if they were humans with own nerve system.

 For example, the target of autonomous driving car is that the system can perceive and recognize the environment and judge autonomously and drive the car without any driver in the car.

 This is the novelty of evolution in the real space realized by interconnection system with autonomous system of life metaphor.

 Computer systems are now developed for the next generation as if they are imitating humans and its life, and, virtual information space is interacting positively with the real space. This is the start of new evolution we never experienced.

 The future computer networking system developed and enhanced by IoT and AI technology will adjust itself to the place and situation, and, will create and use the information together with humans.

 So far the scenario of technology evolution has been backed up by the economic growth.

 The new evolution we are now going to face requires the ability and potential not only from technology but also from the society in order to design the new diversified society where humans co-exist with the machines visible and invisible which can autonomously perceive and judge the things.