While AT&T is currently reaping the short-term benefits of employing SDN in its architecture, one of its long-term goals is adding artificial intelligence (AI) in order to predict subscribers' needs.
And AI may not be that far off, according to Mazin Gilbert, vice president of advanced technology at AT&T Labs . AT&T’s plan for AI includes combing big data analytics, deep diagnostic tools, software-defined networking and predictive capabilities to create an infrastructure that will react, and in some cases, anticipate subscribers' needs. (See AT&T's Gilbert: AI Is Very Real.)
"We recently announced our transformation to a software-defined network where we are writing the network as software and driving it on commodity cloud-based hardware," Gilbert said. "There was one piece of that transformation called ECOMP. We are embedding AI and machine learning as a platform in the core of ECOMP that is deployed all across our network. That means as we create applications, the technologies and the platforms already exist. You are simply writing a design."
Gilbert said there were three steps that play a key role in the journey that lead artificial intelligence. The first was building automated systems, the second was implementing automation and the third was hyper-automation that included advanced analytics and machine learning.
"The metaphor is playing a chess game," Gilbert said of the final step. "Your goal is to win the game. At any point you have to predict what step to take. But when you take a step the AI element is strategizing the next five moves. Even though I take only one step now, I am really thinking five steps ahead to win the game."
— Mike Robuck, Editor, Telco Transformation