2019: Artificial intelligence starts to blossom across telecom industry

Editor's Note: This article is part of our 2019 Preview, which looks at the big topics facing the industry next year. The artificial intelligence seeds that were sown this year will start to bear fruit in 2019. Whether it's networks, services, virtualization, or industrial applications, AI is crucial for solving complex problems while enabling new technologies. In order for AI to flourish, there first needs to be underlying machine learning and deeper analytics of data in place, which is well underway this year. AI is key to enabling future services, whether they be 5G, IoT or keeping up with bandwidth demands due to increased video streaming.