AI Paving the Way for 5G, IoT Light Reading

Creating a network capable of automatically responding to its own issues -- congestion, equipment failure, traffic spikes -- is one of the stated goals of today's virtualization push. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are key elements of this effort today, and they become even more critical going forward. That's because the looming trends of 5G wireless and the Internet of Things will reshape networks and network traffic in even more unpredictable ways than are happening already, notes Mazin Gilbert, AVP of Intelligent Services at AT&T Labs. In this second of two stories on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in telecom (you can read the first one here), we take a closer look at how AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) are deploying technology today to be ready for future services. First, there is a massive spike in data traffic expected with the advent of 5G and IoT, as much as a 10-fold increase in the next four years, Gilbert notes.