The Cloud
"The Cloud” refers to servers accessed through the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centres around the world. With cloud computing, users and businesses do not need to manage physical servers or run software applications on their own computers.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/11/28/10/45/cloud-3843352__340.jpg
The cloud allows users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, as the computing and storage processes take place on servers in a data centre, rather than locally on the user's device. So a user can log in to their Instagram account on a new phone after their old one has broken and still have access to their old account, with their photos, videos and conversation history. It works the same with cloud email providers such as Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, and with cloud storage providers such as Dropbox or Google Drive.
For businesses, the move to cloud computing means less overhead and IT costs. For example, they will no longer have to upgrade and maintain their own servers, as their cloud provider will do it for them. This has a particular impact on small businesses that do not have the ability to pay for their own internal infrastructure, but can outsource their infrastructure needs for little money via the cloud. In addition, the cloud makes it easier for businesses to operate internationally, as employees and customers can access the same files and applications from anywhere.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxT233EdY5c
Cloud computing is made possible by a technology known as virtualisation. Virtualisation allows the creation of a virtual, simulated, digital computer that behaves as if it were a physical computer with its own hardware. The technical term for this computer is virtual machine. Virtual machines on the same server computer, when properly implemented, are separated from each other, so they do not interact with each other, and the files and applications of one virtual machine are not visible to other virtual machines, even though they are located on the same physical machine.
Virtual machines also make more efficient use of the hardware on which they are hosted. By running many virtual machines at the same time, one server becomes many servers, and one data centre becomes a large number of data centres, which have the capacity to serve many organisations. As a result, cloud providers can offer the use of their servers to many more customers than usual, and can do so at a very low cost.
As a general rule, even if individual servers go down, cloud servers will still be online and available. Generally, cloud providers back up their services on several machines and in different geographical regions. This redundancy provides security for the stored data.
Users access cloud services through a browser or an application, which connects to the cloud via the Internet, i.e. across many interconnected networks, regardless of the device they are using.
Cloud service models
Software as a Service (SaaS): instead of users installing an application on their device, SaaS applications are hosted on cloud servers and users can access them via the Internet. SaaS is like renting a house: the landlord remains the owner of the house, but the tenant has the right to use it as if it were his own. Examples of SaaS applications include Salesforce, MailChimp and Slack.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): In this model, companies do not pay for hosted applications, but pay for what they need to develop their own applications. PaaS providers provide everything needed to build an application, including development tools, infrastructure and operating systems, all over the Internet. PaaS can be compared to renting all the tools and equipment needed to build a house, rather than renting the house itself. Examples of PaaS are Heroku and Microsoft Azure.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): In this model, a company rents the servers and storage it needs from a cloud solution provider. They then use that cloud infrastructure to develop their applications. IaaS is like a company renting a piece of land on which they can build whatever they want, but with their own equipment and building materials. IaaS providers include DigitalOcean, Google Compute Engine and OpenStack. Previously, SaaS, PaaS and IaaS were the three main models of cloud computing, and essentially all cloud services fit into one of these three categories. However, in recent years, a fourth model has emerged:
Function as a Service (FaaS): FaaS, also known as serverless computing, breaks cloud applications into even smaller components that only run when needed. Imagine if it were possible to rent a house in parts. For example, the tenant only pays for the dining room at dinner time, the bedroom at bedtime, the dining room when watching TV, and when he is not using any of them, he does not have to pay rent.Serverless or FaaS applications still run on servers, like all these cloud computing models. However, they are known as "serverless" because they do not run on dedicated machines, and because the companies developing the applications do not have to manage any servers. In addition, serverless functions scale or double as more users use the application - imagine if the tenant's dining room could be expanded on demand when there are visitors!
Artificial Intelligence: in the cloud and applied to Business
Many companies are already aware of the potential of cloud computing technology, but not so many are aware of the potential of merging cloud and AI.
Cloud technology has undergone significant changes in recent years and its most important challenge today is the use by Artificial Intelligence of tools and information that are already located in the cloud. The fusion of AI and the cloud has great potential to accelerate digital innovation.
That is why there is currently a huge investment in AI capabilities in cloud platforms. With technology giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft leading the way, many cloud solutions have also started to integrate AI capabilities.
The two technologies complement each other. Undoubtedly, Artificial Intelligence has unique characteristics that can influence the next generations of cloud computing platforms. And A.I. requires support for new programming paradigms and also needs a new computing infrastructure.
Following these trends, cloud platforms are changing the level of basic support, making Artificial Intelligence capabilities much more flexible, efficient and accessible. Increasingly, A.I. capabilities are being incorporated into the cloud as a core element of their infrastructures, so progressively we will have a new generation of cloud platforms with A.I. technology.
Artificial Intelligence and machine learning have rapidly expanded from research labs to data centres in companies in virtually every industry. Until recently, considerable investment was needed to get this technology implemented. However, thanks to cloud resources this is changing.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhExK4JgXvE
Cloud platforms with integrated computing services already allow companies to develop and test applications faster than ever before. They have enabled a democratisation of this technology.
But what can AI platforms in the cloud do for my company? Let's take a look at some of the many examples that exist:
● Create chatbots capable of holding conversations based on natural language processing.
● Create recommendations for online customers.
● Obtain and understand valuable information from the content of documents.
● Detect defects in products or equipment by image analysis, to automate quality, safety or maintenance inspection.
● Detect abnormal equipment behaviour by analysing sensor data.
● Develop and train machine learning models.
● Optimise your supply or transport chain.
● Optimise prices.
● Predicting the likelihood of fires.
● etc., etc.
For all these examples and many more, there are pre-trained models that can be tested, tuned and deployed from the cloud.
Exploring the following platforms may enable you to find just the right solution to some of the challenges your business is facing:
● Amazon WebServices(AWS): is the most widely adopted and comprehensive cloud platform in the world.
● TensorFlow: Open source end-to-end platform for machine learning
● Google AIServices: Google's suite of cloud-based A.I. services.
● H2O: Aims to bring cutting-edge A.I. research closer to the general public. A. research to the general public.
● Symphony: Platform that provides standardised methods for rapidly building, deploying and maintaining A.I. solutions.
● DataRobot: Machine Learning platform focused on the enterprise. It is visual and designed to quickly make sense of and use data.
● NeuralDesigner: Tool for advanced analytics. Includes tools for descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics.
Entrepreneurs need help to visualise, analyse and plan strategies around increasingly large data sets, and they have found that A.I. is able to work with big data.
Source: https://pixabay.com/vectors/chat-chatbot-automation-internet-6536653/
Now, thanks to the cloud, A.I. is already available to many businesses. Cloud Computing, and the commitment of the big players in the world of Artificial Intelligence to Cloud Computing, are a democratising and accelerating factor for Artificial Intelligence, not only in terms of scientific development but also in terms of accessibility for companies.
Blockchain
What is Blockchain? Blockchain is a concept that poses a huge revolution not only in our economy, but in all kinds of fields.
Let's start with an example. Typically, if a person named Brooke wants to send 5,000 euros to another person named Kevin, he or she does the transaction through a bank. The bank acts as an intermediary for this and many other transactions, effectively centralising the movement of capital back and forth.
The bank will withdraw EUR 5,000 from Brooke's account and transfer it to Kevin's account, informing the other bank to add EUR 5,000 to Kevin's account.
The management has not required a transfer of banknotes from one side to the other, but one or two banks have been in charge of moving the money from one to the other with a simple change in their account balances. All fine and dandy, except for one problem:
Neither Brooke nor Kevin have control over the process. Only the banks have all the information. They both depend on the banks and their way of doing things to complete that transaction. They are subject to their conditions (and their fees, of course).
This is where Blockchain comes in, which basically eliminates intermediaries, decentralising all management. The control of the process belongs to the users, not the banks.
Blockchain acts as a giant ledger in which the records, the blocks, are linked and encrypted to protect the security and privacy of transactions. It is, in other words, a secure, distributed database that can be applied to all kinds of transactions that do not necessarily have to be economic.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/10/15/22/11/blockchain-3750157__480.jpg
The process is relatively simple, but as we say, it involves more people. Now Brooke and Kevin are not alone, and will be part of a large group of users who are in charge of checking that the whole process happens as it should.
If Brooke wants to withdraw a bitcoin from her account to give it to Kevin, she first warns everyone with a peculiarity: no one knows that Brooke is Brooke and that Kevin is Kevin. They only know that from a digital wallet (which would be a bank account) they want to transfer that amount (which is known) to another one.
Brooke therefore gives notice of his intentions, but without revealing his identity: "Hey, I want to send a bitcoin from my wallet to this wallet, please update your account books! When sending such a message, all users of that network first check that Brooke the source wallet has enough money to send it to the destination wallet. If so, they all note that transaction, which is then completed and becomes part of the transaction block. But they are not yet definitively registered in that database.
As time goes on, more and more transactions are completed and moved to that block, which has a limited capacity that depends on the Blockchain structure and the size of each transaction. When a block can no longer support any more transactions, there comes an important moment: "validating" or "sealing" it, which is what users do when mining bitcoin.
This block mining consists of performing a series of complex calculations that require time and (increasingly) electricity, but when the process is complete, these blocks are permanently recorded in the block chain, and cannot be modified without altering all the blocks linked to it, an operation that would also require the majority of nodes to validate it.
Blockchain beyond economics Although Blockchain is closely related to new cryptocurrencies, it is logical to ask whether this system is valid for other types of transactions, and the answer is a resounding yes.There are many ideas that seek to exploit the benefits of a technology that has a virtually unlimited reach. Let us look at some examples:
Traceability: Traceability is the ability to trace all processes, from the acquisition of raw materials to production, consumption and disposal. It makes it possible to know when, where and by whom a certain good was produced. Thus, it can certify to suppliers and consumers the 100% renewable origin of energy, the origin of organic or fair trade crops, or eggs from free-range hens.
Property registry: the Japanese government has initiated a project to unify the entire urban and rural property registry with Blockchain technology, which would allow for an open database where the data of the estimated 230 million farms and 50 million buildings in the country could be consulted. Payments in the real world: a startup called TenX has created a prepaid card that can be reloaded with different cryptocurrencies and then used to pay with it anywhere as if the card had conventional money, regardless of whether or not the establishment accepts these types of virtual currencies. Carsharing: EY, a subsidiary of Ernst & Young Global Ltd, is developing a Blockchain-based system that allows companies or groups of people to access a car-sharing service in a simple way. The so-called Tesseract would register who owns the vehicle, the user of that vehicle and generate costs based on insurance and other transactions in this type of service.
Cloud storage: Normally storage services are centralised at a specific provider, but it is possible to decentralise this service to improve security and reduce dependency on storage providers.
Digital identity: Blockchain could provide a unique system to achieve irrefutable, secure and immutable validation of identities. For example, thanks to Blockchain, we could have our medical records available in any hospital in the world, in any country in the world we travel to. Music: music distribution could undergo a revolution if a Blockchain-based system could be implemented to manage its playback, distribution and enjoyment. Spotify itself is betting big on its own Blockchain.Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence
As in other cases, here we have two complementary and synergistic technologies.
In this pairing, Artificial Intelligence provides the ability to support decision-making processes, while Blockchain provides integrity, security and decentralised transactions, which can contribute greatly to process improvement. However, the combination of these technologies is still a field in which there is a lot of ground to explore, and although it seems clear that it has great potential, there are not many concrete developments that combine them. Even so, we can talk about some promising convergences between Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence:
Smarter processing in Blockchain
The management of blockchain, blockchains themselves and encrypted data requires a great deal of processing power. Artificial Intelligence would offer the opportunity to start executing such tasks in a much more efficient way.
Decentralised Artificial Intelligence
As we have explained above, Blockchain has the capacity to decentralise services, not only in the economy, but also in a wide range of sectors. It creates transparent, decentralised networks that can be accessed by anyone, from anywhere in the world.
So why not do the same with the A.I. algorithms themselves and the datasets needed to train them?
For example, the SinguarlityNET network tries to do this. It uses blockchain technology to increase the distribution of data and algorithms, promoting the development of decentralised Artificial Intelligence. A.I. technology no longer resides on isolated servers, operating within a specific company, infrastructure or industry. This platform allows anyone to tap into a global network of A.I. algorithms, services and agents.
Data protection
As we know, Artificial Intelligence depends on the availability of data. The information that feeds it comes from many different sources, including us.
We want to benefit from the advantages that A.I. can offer us, and to do so we can offer you our personal data along with many others. However, our data is valuable, we want to protect it, and we need to equip ourselves with the tools to do so.
The information contained in an individual's medical and financial records is too valuable to be entrusted to a single company and its algorithms. Storing this data on a blockchain, allowing it to be queried by an Artificial Intelligence, but only when it has been authorised to do so, can allow us to benefit from the advantages of A.I. and at the same time ensure that our data remain safe.
Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/10/31/09/55/fingerprint-2904774__340.jpg
The development of Artificial Intelligence applied to big data and the security offered by blockchain technology create the perfect combination for the management of large databases.
Data monetisation
Another possibility of combining the two technologies would allow users to own the benefits that their data can produce.
Currently, users have no detailed control over how their data is used by large companies such as Facebook or Google, nor do they share in the revenue from it.
Blockchain can allow us to cryptographically control our data and ensure that it is only used with our approval, so that we can leverage its use for our own benefit when we choose to do so, and without putting our personal information at risk.
In the same vein, we could have control over the use of our data by A.I. AI developers could buy data directly from its owners, through data-sharing platforms.