Every corner we turn, the world is abuzz with words like Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Video Analytics and Machine Learning, but what do these buzzwords mean? Can we imagine a world today without a mobile and internet? The answer seems to be a big ‘No!’ to most part of the world today. The advent of internet has definitely made the world a very small place by providing tools to connect and communicate across long distances and complex environments. Whilst we celebrate the connectedness that Internet and internet of things brings to us, are we able to cope with the digital consumption map we are leaving for everyone else to analyse? How much of these data are important for the world we live today? Is there a structured way of organising such large data to predict the next move of digital behaviours? 

That is where the advent of Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning takes the next important step of digital evolution, where machines are now not only intelligent enough to start prompting the possible behavioural outcomes, but also provide significant analysis of the past actions to determine the future outcomes.

First, let’s look at each of them:

• IoT or Internet of Things is a system of interrelated or physical devices, also called connected or smart devices, including buildings, machines, vehicles, and other objects with unique identifiers. Each of the identifier – which is embedded via electronics, software, sensors, actuators, or the internet – allows collection, dissemination, or exchange of data over a network. Simply put, IoT allows one device to connect to another and exchange information, facilitating efficient performance.

• AI or Artificial Intelligence is that field of science wherein computers simulate basic human tasks like visual perception, speech recognition, language translation, problem solving, etc., by identifying the environment, to provide successful results.

• VA or Video Analytics is the technique of monitoring video feeds in real time through computer algorithms, which provides key information for crucial, time-sensitive decisions; it aids in triggering alarms or processing BAU for everyday business insights.

• ML or Machine Learning is that part of AI, wherein computers pick up information, patterns, and other data without being explicitly programmed.