Internet of Things (IoT)
Last Updated: July 29, 2026 | By Mihail Sebastian | AI Dictionary
The network of physical devices with sensors, software, and connectivity that collect and exchange data over the internet for monitoring and automation.
What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?
The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects (sensors, appliances, vehicles, industrial machines) fitted with software and connectivity so they collect and exchange data over the internet. The devices themselves are simple; the value sits in the data streams they produce and the systems that act on them.
IoT is also where much of the raw material for AI originates. Sensor data feeds the machine learning models behind predictive maintenance, traffic management, and health monitoring.
Types of IoT Devices
- Consumer IoT: Smart thermostats, wearables, and voice assistants in homes.
- Industrial IoT (IIoT): Connected sensors on production lines, logistics fleets, and farm equipment, used for monitoring and predictive maintenance.
- Healthcare IoT: Wearable heart monitors and remote patient monitoring systems that stream vital signs to clinicians.
- Smart city IoT: Streetlights, waste sensors, and traffic monitors run by municipalities.
Because these devices generate more data than networks comfortably carry, many deployments process it locally with edge computing and transmit only the results.
Example of IoT
A smart thermostat is IoT in a single device. Its sensors read temperature, humidity, and whether anyone is home; it sends that data to the vendor’s servers; and it receives instructions and software updates back over the same connection.
Over weeks it learns the household’s schedule and starts heating before people wake. The owner adjusts it from a phone anywhere in the world.
That loop – sense, transmit, learn, act – is the pattern nearly every IoT product follows, whether the “thing” is a thermostat or a wind turbine.
Related AI terms: Edge Computing · Big Data · Anomaly Detection · Machine Learning · Augmented Reality
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Mihail Sebastian — Writes about AI governance, regulation, and the technology behind them. Placeholder bio — replace with a real credential line. About