Embedding AI into Tiny Devices

We should ask what AI means here.  I am assuming training and applying machine learning architecture. Then the power of the systems involved may be key.

Microsoft Researchers in India, US Embedding AI Into Tiny Devices 
A team of 30 researchers at Microsoft labs in Redmond and Benguluru are busy developing a new class of machine-learning software and tools to embed artificial intelligence (AI) onto bread-crumb size computer processors.

The project is part of a paradigm shift within the technology industry that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella described recently, by saying that "We're moving from what is today's mobile-first, cloud-first world to a new world that is going to be made up of an intelligent cloud and intelligent edge".

"Creating the intelligent edge is a step toward realising the promise of a world populated with tiny intelligent devices at every turn - embedded in our clothes, scattered around our homes and offices," said John Roach, a world-renowned expert in AI and machine learning, in a Microsoft blog post.

The researchers imagine all sorts of intelligent devices that could be created, from smart soil-moisture sensors deployed for precision irrigation on remote farms to brain implants that warn users of impending seizures so that they can get to a safe place and call a caregiver.

The computer scientists and software engineers are taking top-down and bottom-up approaches to the challenge of deploying machine-learning models onto resource-constrained devices.

The top-down approach involves developing algorithms that compress machine-learning models trained for the cloud to run efficiently on devices such as the Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Zero. ... "