AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) = AI (Artificial Intelligence) + IoT (Internet of Things). AIoT is a research model integrating artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and belongs to a new type of in-depth IoT research and application form. Among them, IoT is the infrastructure of AIoT. Its ubiquitous sensors and intelligent terminals will realize the interconnection of people, machines and things, obtain a large amount of application data in real time, and serve as the data source and operational cornerstone. AI is the intelligent means and tool of AIoT. AI helps IoT achieve intelligent interconnection, improve the breadth, depth and effectiveness of connection, realize intelligent analysis of big data, enhance the perception, identification and decision-making capabilities of the IoT system, and improve the ability and intelligence level of integrated applications to solve complex problems. Since IoT applications integrating AI usually require IoT devices to have a certain computing power, they are often integrated with IT infrastructure platforms such as cloud computing and edge computing. The AIoT platform realizes intelligent control of IoT devices, in-depth semantic understanding of IoT information, value extraction, intelligent control and other high-level derivative applications through more user-friendly human-computer interaction interfaces such as voice and video. AIoT improves the intelligence level of IoT applications by applying AI, and enhances the application level. Therefore, AIoT is usually classified according to the intelligence level. Among them, the intelligence levels are divided into five levels from low to high, including propagation intelligence, aggregation intelligence, processing intelligence, recognition intelligence and decision-making intelligence. Objects embedded with artificial intelligence include three levels: intelligent individuals, intelligent objects and intelligent containers. The intelligent systems constructed by AIoT are divided into three levels according to the complexity, including embedded intelligent platforms, general intelligent service platforms and distributed intelligent service platforms. The network infrastructure layer is divided into smart local area networks, smart homogeneous Internet and smart cross-domain Internet according to the coverage. The AIoT industry chain mainly includes the perception layer, the transmission layer and the processing layer. Among them, the perception layer is the foundation of the AIoT industry chain, mainly responsible for information collection, that is, collecting various data in the environment in real time through various hardware devices such as sensors and cameras, such as temperature, humidity, illumination, sound, etc. The transmission layer is responsible for transmitting the data collected by the perception layer, mainly achieving reliable data transmission through communication services and platform services to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of data. The processing layer processes and analyzes data at the cloud end or edge end. This layer includes software development, system integration and value-added services, and is the most important value creation link in the AIoT industry chain, that is, through artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning and deep learning, intelligent analysis such as positioning, comparison, prediction and scheduling of data is carried out. At present, China’s AIoT industry is in the middle of the industry growth period, and multi-level infrastructures are being further rapidly improved; network connectivity has become basically popularized, data collection capabilities have been widely applied, data barriers have been gradually broken, and the interconnection between data islands has been accelerated; technologies such as digital twins and XR are further integrated with the AIoT industry, improving the breadth and depth of digital technology applications in the industry; the ToC market grows steadily, the ToG market gradually expands, demand-side application scenarios continue to expand, and together with the supply side, they have gradually become the two major driving forces for the growth of the AIoT industry. The positioning of enterprises has become increasingly clear, and they have begun to compete in niche areas. The market has gradually evolved from a multi-dispersed mesh structure to an intersecting development direction. With the transformation of the old and new economic driving forces in the whole economy, the pace of digital upgrading has accelerated, and all walks of life have witnessed digital and intelligent transformation and upgrading. The trends of production intelligence and life wisdom have further accelerated, accumulating potential energy for the AIoT industry to enter the next stage of high-speed development. With the further deepening of the domestic industrial Internet, industrial intelligence process and the “new infrastructure”, coupled with the wave of digital transformation, the demand for downstream application scenarios of the AIoT industry has entered an explosive growth stage. At the same time, the endogenous power of China’s economy is becoming increasingly obvious, and the demand of leading companies in various industries for improving efficiency is relatively strong. Generally speaking, since the emergence of the intelligent wave, the second growth curve represented by digital transformation has become increasingly clear. From G-end to C-end, domestic AIoT application scenarios are more abundant, continuously stimulating the expansion of China’s intelligent Internet of Things (AIOT) market. Data shows that in 2023, the scale of China’s intelligent Internet of Things (AIOT) market has grown from 259 billion yuan in 2018 to 1,186.8 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 35.59%.
- The application scenarios of the intelligent Internet of Things are further expanded, and the industry has huge potential and opportunities
With the popularization of IoT technology and the expansion of application scenarios, the market scale of the intelligent Internet of Things will continue to expand. Especially in fields such as smart cities, smart manufacturing, smart healthcare and smart agriculture, the Internet of Things will play an increasingly important role, bringing more intelligent and efficient solutions to these fields. In order to promote the healthy development of the IoT industry, standardization and interoperability will become important development directions. By formulating unified standards and specifications, the interconnection between different devices can be achieved, improving the compatibility and expandability of IoT devices. This will further promote the application and popularization of IoT technology.
The application fields of the Internet of Things will be further expanded, extending from traditional fields such as industrial manufacturing and smart cities to more industries and scenarios. For example, in the medical field, IoT technology can be used in remote medical care, health monitoring, etc.; in the agricultural field, IoT technology can be used in precision agriculture, intelligent breeding, etc. The expansion of these new application fields will bring broader market space for the IoT industry.
Generally speaking, the future development trend of the intelligent Internet of Things industry market is positive, with huge potential and opportunities. However, it is also necessary to pay attention to challenges and problems in aspects such as technological innovation, data security and privacy protection to achieve sustainable development and long-term growth. At the same time, enterprises and governments need to strengthen cooperation to jointly promote the R & D and application of IoT technology and promote the healthy development of the IoT industry.
- The integration of the Internet of Things and new-generation information technologies is accelerating
AI is the key technology for the realization of AIoT. AI technology empowers IoT and, together with chips, systems and networks, constructs a complete AIoT ecosystem chain. AIoT generally goes through the paths of automation, device connection, intelligent collection, information visualization, big data analysis and intelligent prediction. The early development of the Internet of Things was to achieve simple device connection, but the ultimate development direction is to achieve intelligent connection, enabling devices to make autonomous decisions through learning. Artificial intelligence algorithms and technologies including deep learning, computer vision and natural language processing can empower IoT, fully tapping the digital value in the massive data generated by terminal devices. AI technology empowers the intelligent attributes of device networking, enabling it to truly acquire the ability of independent thinking and promoting the Internet of Things from the stage of interconnection of all things to the stage of intelligent interconnection of all things.
From the development trend, the future 5G technology will make the communication between the cloud and the end more and more closely connected, enabling devices to generate and transmit more situational data during the connection process, providing rich training resources for AI applications. As the value of data storage, processing and application of the IoT platform becomes increasingly prominent, the IoT + AI stage will gradually explode. Since the core of the Internet of Things is data, traditional IoT requires a large amount of manpower to analyze data, while artificial intelligence technology empowers sensors and other intelligent IoT devices with the ability of independent analysis through model training, making more full and efficient use of IoT data. Conversely, the Internet of Things truly implements the high-end algorithms and technologies of artificial intelligence at the application level. In addition, by integrating 5G, AI technology, IoT technology and traditional industries, the AIoT era is expected to further improve the intelligence level in various fields such as smart buildings, smart cities, smart transportation, smart logistics and supply chain IoT. AIoT will become the optimal path for the intelligent upgrading of traditional industries.