How the futures of AI and 5G are joined at the hip

The world around us is looking like a science fiction movie from the 1960s more and more every day. With applications of artificial intelligence (AI) increasing and telecom giants such as Du and Etisalat experimenting with 5G, the successor to 4G, there is much to look forward to in the field of technology.

However, it sometimes feels that the development of these new technologies happen in silos, with little to no overlap or collaboration between them. This is a shame, as the most profound and impactful solutions and products often use a large combination of technologies and their respective strengths.

Here we delve deeper into one area where 5G and AI complement each other.

In order to better understand the potential overlap between these two revolutionary technologies, we first have to understand them better individually. Accordingly, we can see where the strengths and weaknesses of these technologies lie, and how they can support each other’s growth.

First up is 5G, the next-generation mobile communication technology, which will enhance the speed and integration of various other technologies, most of all AI.

With speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second, 5G is set to be as much as 100 times faster than 4G, which in itself was a large improvement over its predecessor, 3G. Moreover, 5G has lower latency, which is the measure of its responsiveness to impulses or commands.

For reference, 4G had a response time of 0.45 seconds, while 5 G has 0.01 seconds, thereby making it much faster. However, the short wavelength at which 5G transmits data is a major hurdle in its adoption.

The current plan of governments is simply to blanket areas with 5G transmitters. But what is the best way to put up nodes, how will people remain connected to 5G while moving between transmitters, and how will multiple people using their own 5G networks do so without hindering others’?

The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, AI is set to benefit most with the rollout of 5G. This is because its processes include learning, reasoning and self-correction which need vast amounts of data, quickly. The applications of AI could drastically improve both easier and more complex tasks in a variety of fields, including data analysis, healthcare, logistics, and many more.

The challenge, however, is that the processing speed of artificial intelligence has been rather slow – it is a limiting factor for more widespread adoption, especially when working with large datasets. With the rise of 5G, however, this processing limitation will be less of an issue moving forward, as the data transmitted per set timeframe is much higher than before.

At the same time, artificial intelligence will support better and more effective implementation of 5G, given the challenges it currently faces.

On the other hand, with 5G helping in the background, the applications of artificial intelligence, such as the performance of certain data-related tasks, will be done much more efficiently and quickly, thus improving the automation and application of the other technology.

Through overlap and collaboration between technologies like these, and the companies that put in the time and effort to explore such synergies, there will most certainly be a breakthrough in a field that will impact our lives in a way that we cannot imagine yet — that is the exciting part we are looking forward to.