Data is crucial for artificial intelligence, especially for inference workloads used in real-time decision-making across various platforms. Traditional centralized cloud-based AI inference struggles with demands for low latency and high availability, particularly in applications like autonomous vehicles and healthcare. Shifting AI inference to the edge reduces latency, enhances data privacy, and lowers bandwidth costs.
Antony Pegg emphasizes the need for a multi-master active-active architecture that allows read and write operations at any node, ensuring data synchronization and high availability. Misconceptions about edge AI include beliefs that edge hardware can't handle AI workloads, that edge inference is limited to low-stakes use cases, and that centralized systems are necessary for data integrity.
The shift to distributed inference can lead to reduced latency, faster insights, and lower costs, while supporting data compliance with regulations. Companies are adopting distributed PostgreSQL solutions with multi-master architecture for low latency and high availability. Enquire AI is an example of a company that improved performance and compliance by transitioning to pgEdge Cloud. This architecture allows for consistent data availability and supports scalable AI solutions at the edge.