SDN AI: A Powerful Combo for Better Networks Light Reading

The combination of software-defined networking and machine learning/artificial intelligence is becoming a powerful tool for making networks more reliable and secure. And while not everyone is willing to talk about their activities yet -- CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) declined interview requests on this topic -- a peek inside what is happening at AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) offers a clear view of what's possible. In this first of two stories, executives at those companies share how machine learning and AI are being built into their networks today. As Mazin Gilbert, AVP of Intelligent Services at AT&T Labs, explains, artificial intelligence and machine learning are hardly new concepts, nor is the idea of using these tools to improve network performance and security. There was talk about that as far back as the 1980s, he says.