Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Networking

When we envision the future, we imagine flying cars and moving roads. We imagine the future to be automated in every possible way, to an extent where we do not need to raise our hands to brush our teeth even! Starting from driving to making our morning coffee, from finding the best shares for us to invest in to finding the model of an appliance that would suit our needs perfectly, we imagine everything to be calculated and predicted by the machinery we use.

Such a future can be made possible by Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Intelligence (MI). In easy words, AI is the study that enables devices or electrical equipment to act like humans, in the sense that they will be able to make informed choices or decisions that are ideal for them in a certain situation.

So, how has this been made possible? By feeding these devices with tons and tons of data! When a computer has a lot of information regarding something, it can thoroughly analyze and identify patterns in the data, which it can use later to make a decision. A simple example would be a greenhouse. An AI can be used to track the humidity, temperature, and pressure of the greenhouse. If it senses a sudden change in any of those, it can take the appropriate measures, such as opening the windows to reduce the pressure or increasing the heater’s power if it gets too cold, all by itself!

If it’s AI, it can also detect intruders or unauthorized people by sensing the vibrations of the ground at odd hours of the day, as it will know that authorized people do not usually come by at that. As you can understand, the possibilities of AI are endless.

The most significant way to change our lives by AI is through intertwining AI with networking. If multiple AIs can communicate with each other via networks; they are able to share the information each collects and generate even better analysis results from the HUGE amount of data combined together. This could be a foolproof way to achieve the “automated” future we all look forward to.

If your coffeemaker lets your car know you have taken your coffee and are on your way out, it can start the engine and look for the least congested routes before you even enter your car! After all, you can never have too much data to draw a conclusion from.

At some point, you will not even need a device to control your surroundings. It will all be an automatic ecosystem, where devices around you will be constantly collecting information about you and your surroundings and keep analyzing it. These networks will be present across all industries and borders, which will make everything more personalized and efficient for us.

However, does that mean humans are left with no responsibility at all? No. We humans will still have to design and implement the networks ourselves. The difference lies in the fact that, with the aid of AI, the limitations to our imagination are removed and the possibilities: endless! AI will let us design stronger, swifter and more efficient networks, and with the help of its analysis power and millions of calculations, we will be able to set up those networks very easily and quickly. This will lead to newer designs and management techniques and result in networks that function much better than the current ones.

So, how will these improved networks affect industries? They will increase the efficiency of businesses by many folds. When employees will be able to communicate with each other, share information, use applications and everything else in only a matter of milliseconds, they will obviously work faster and in a more organized way. Due to the new networking technologies that are software-defined, AI will be able to automatically and dynamically decide the fastest route for data packets to be transmitted between the internet and the private networks.

The usefulness of AI is not limited to designing and creating networks only, but they will also help in managing your network properly. It can secure networks in ways previously thought unimaginable. If you’re wondering how, read on!

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on network security

The internet is an ever-growing community, to which millions of device connect every day. According to predictions, more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020. All these devices, alongside the internet and other external and internal networks, has definitely made everyone’s lives easier. However, as we all know, with the immense increase in the number of internet users, the number of cybercrimes and criminals is also increasing at the same rate.

The rate of cybercrimes has increased by 38% in 2015 alone, and it is predicted to continue to do so unless a useful tactic is implemented, which will not only reduce cybercrimes but will actually eradicate it completely. The biggest victims to cybercrimes are enterprises. This is largely due to the fact that networks of enterprises are composed of multiple computers; hence cybercriminals can find many ways to enter the networks.

Enterprises get as much as 10000 cybersecurity alert every day on average, while the most active networks get as many as 150,000 alerts. While all are not equally important, they do keep the IT department on their toes. This causes slowing down of operations as experts have to spend a lot of time in looking, identifying and neutralizing actual threats rather than working on and improvising the actual network itself.

And that is where AI comes in. AI has the power to collect, sort through and analyze millions of information in seconds, something which is not possible by even a million humans together. This gives them the power to monitor every device that connects to the network and collect detailed data about their “usual” activities. Whenever something deviates from the ordinary, the AI can detect it instantly. As more time passes by and the AI is fed more information, its pinpointing abilities become even better. At some point, it will be able to notice slight but important changes that would have never caught the human eye. As they have no limitations in terms of energy and time, they can do their job 24/7.

Alongside being extremely efficient and time-saving, AI will also be the most cost-efficient one. Since it can process such huge amounts of data in such short times, humans obviously cannot compete with it. Employing thousands of people to process raw data is not a feasible option, therefore using AI will save us a lot of money.

However, there are two main problems in using AI in networks or for its security. Firstly, AI is not able to decide the ideal action if a security breach does take place. This is something that still has to be decided by humans, which is why they cannot be left on their own to make crucial decisions.

Secondly, how smart can you let AI become? In May 2017, an AI has been created that can make other AIs itself. When it was tested, it made an AI that performed better than all its counterparts that were human made! If left on their own to evolve and become smarter, they might eventually end up AIs that are going to turn against the human race itself.

Is it a little far-fetched theory? Maybe. But even if they don’t, cybercriminals will soon be able to make their own AIs and this means, although scientists are making AIs defend and improve our networks, similar AIs will be made by criminals to harm and destroy. This might eventually lead to an AI arms race, which might become catastrophic if governments decide to join.

The consequences of using AI can both be good and bad, and will likely be both in the future. If you want to know more, contact Flint tech solution’s Data Security Management for more information.