Foundations of AI, IoT, and Robotics

This unit introduces the historical, technical, and societal foundations of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics as they relate to advanced cloud computing. It reviews evolution and trajectories of AI, explores urban and planetary IoT applications, and prepares students to manage cloud‑connected device and robotic deployments in later units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze major milestones and architectural trends in the evolution of artificial intelligence and use evidence to estimate potential timelines toward human‑level intelligence.
• Evaluate societal, ethical, economic, and legal impacts of AI adoption and propose mitigation or policy strategies for real‑world scenarios.
• Demonstrate the ability to diagram IoT and urban/planetary monitoring system architectures, identifying sensors, network connectivity, cloud integration points, and data flows.
• Apply IoT management and robotic deployment principles to create a high‑level plan for a scalable, cloud‑connected device fleet that addresses monitoring, maintenance, and conservation goals.