IoT Insider Editor Kristian McCann speaks with Eric Topham, CEO at Octaipipe, on what federated learning (FL) is, how it works alongside Edge AI and how this is all applied to IoT. Although FL is less known, the conversation explores how it can provide IoT devices with real tangible benefits: security, lower latency and strengthened global models. Equally, Topham shares how it’s ability to allow devices to learn from collective data without sharing sensitive information with each other could prove critical for wider adoption of IoT and even be well positioned to tackle any incoming security legislation set to come to the sector down the line.
“Federated learning fundamentally changes the way we approach machine learning in IoT systems, by shifting the learning process to the Edge, closer to where data is actually generated,” explains Topham. His extensive background in academia and data science brings a unique perspective to the discussion on how federated Edge AI for IoT is addressing the complex challenges associated with applying machine learning on a large scale.
Topham goes on to illustrate the technology’s advantages in security, stating: “Instead of moving all that data onto the Cloud, we move the learning model down to each of the devices.” This revolutionary approach ensures data remains private and significantly lowers network and cloud computing costs.
Future trends and challenges in implementing machine learning in IoT also feature in the podcast, where there is a focus on the balance between privacy, cost-effectiveness, and system performance, especially taking into consideration the additional computational pressure such FL models would put on IoT device battery power.
Topham underscores his beliefs, however, on what the broader implications of a federated learning adopted more widely in IoT could bring. “The distributed nature of IoT itself is effectively a barrier…federated learning is the core technology that unlocks all of this,” he asserts. This technology is paving the way for more user-friendly, economically viable, and trustworthy IoT systems.
To listen to insightful conversation on the impact of FL and Edge AI on IoT and the knowledge shared by Eric Topham, tune into the IoT Unplugged Podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and at the link below.
What is Federated Learning and why is it pivotal for future of IoT devices? – IoT Unplugged
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