Practical Artificial Intelligence in the Cloud

Chapter 1. Practical Artificial Intelligence in the Cloud

When the automobile was introduced, there were rumors that drivers and passengers would suffocate when the speed of their vehicles exceeded 20 miles per hour. Many people believed that cars would never become popular because the noise of passing engines frightened horses and other farm animals.

Nobody foresaw rush-hour traffic jams, bumper stickers, or accidents caused by people trying to text and drive at the same time.

It’s hard to imagine AI (artificial intelligence) spooking farm animals. But that hasn’t stopped several generations of science-fiction writers from inventing scary stories about the rise of sentient computers and killer robots.

We can’t see the future, and it’s impossible to predict with any reasonable degree of accuracy how AI will change our lives. But we can make some educated guesses. For instance, it seems clear that AI as a global phenomenon is growing rapidly, and that a large piece of that growth is enabled by the cloud.

As a society, we’re no longer debating whether AI is feasible or practical. Instead, we’re asking where, when, and how AI can be used to solve problems, achieve higher levels of efficiency, apply knowledge more effectively, and improve the human condition.

What is increasingly apparent is that the sizes of the applications and datasets required for genuine AI processes are too large for devices such as smart phones or laptops. The idea of AI running independently on local machines ...