Artificial Intelligence in the Cloud: The Perfect Combo of AI + Cloud 

Artificial Intelligence continues to be adopted at full speed and without brakes. AI is increasingly present in different sectors of the industry , thanks in large part to the fact that the tools are increasingly more accessible, and without a doubt, the public cloud is contributing to this in a notable way. 

Aware of the new needs of companies, the main cloud providers are offering innovative services focused on AI in the cloud that allow working in a simple, efficient and economical way. Do you want to know more about artificial intelligence in the cloud? In this article we will delve a little deeper into this interesting topic. 

What is artificial intelligence in the cloud? 

Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that studies and develops computer systems capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence . For example: pattern recognition, learning from data, or decision making. 

The goal of artificial intelligence is to create systems that can perform tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously . They are capable of continuously improving based on experience . A priori, having the computing infrastructures that allow access to AI tools does not seem easy. However, in recent years this is changing thanks to the public cloud.  

Artificial intelligence in the public cloud is an increasingly present reality . According to a Gartner report, 50% of investments related to artificial intelligence will be made in the public cloud environment by 2022. This is not surprising, since the benefits of the cloud are obvious: scalability, flexibility, pay per use… 

In addition, major technology companies are investing in the development of cloud-based AI services. Amazon, Azure and Google Cloud Platform all offer complete solutions for developing, training and running AI models , as well as data analysis and visualization tools. 

Public cloud providers already offer multiple services for the entire machine learning lifecycle, such as: 

• Data preprocessing and cleaning – Tools for data preprocessing and cleaning, such as Azure or AWS Databricks. 

• Model training: Parallel computing services and storage services for model training, such as Azure Machine Learning Studio or Amazon SageMaker. 
• Model deployment and execution: Containers for deploying and running models in production, such as AWS Fargate or Azure Containers 
• Data analysis and visualization services : Tools for data analysis and visualization, such as Amazon QuickSight or Azure Power BI. 

Ultimately, public cloud providers offer a full range of services to harness the value of data and deploy AI models . As a result, more and more companies are adopting AI in their processes, and this is just the beginning. 

What advantages does artificial intelligence offer in the public cloud? 

Artificial intelligence in the public cloud is proving to be a great alternative for businesses. A recent study shows that 78% of enterprise AI and ML projects are implemented using hybrid cloud infrastructures. This suggests that there is still a lot of room for growth, and public cloud providers are on the right track.  

Innovative and differentiating services that make AI increasingly accessible , not only for small projects, but also for increasingly larger and more complex models. The public cloud continues to innovate and offer infrastructure options. These allow increasing the possibilities of AI in the cloud without the need for large investments. This is because these services offer the usual advantages of the public cloud: 

• Scalability: AI requires large volumes of data for models to be effective. Having a cloud infrastructure that can scale data processing and storage as needed is key to the success of an AI project. 
• Flexibility: AI models are continuously improved as new data is acquired. The public cloud offers the flexibility to adapt the development and testing environment to constantly changing models. 

• Pay per use: Public cloud costs are based on actual resource usage, so you only pay for what you use. This allows you to adjust the budget of an AI project as needed, thereby avoiding unnecessary costs. 
• Maintenance:   Public cloud AI services are continuously updated by providers, allowing you to have the latest technologies without any maintenance. 
• Storage:   Artificial intelligence requires large volumes of data to function. Public cloud providers offer affordable and scalable storage solutions that are perfectly suited to the needs of any project. 
• Collaboration:   AI teams are often made up of experts from different areas (data, engineering, analytics, etc.). The public cloud facilitates collaboration between all team members, as it allows access to resources and tools from anywhere. 

The perfect combo of AI + Cloud 

In short, artificial intelligence in the public cloud offers a large number of advantages compared to a hybrid or private environment. More and more companies are using it more extensively or are encouraged to start AI projects, thanks to the competitive advantages it offers, in search of making smarter decisions, automating processes and taking advantage of new business opportunities .