What’s with the hype around 5G networking? We’ve got 4G already. Is a single digit going to improve on it that massively? It is — in fact, it is more than a step up for networking; it’s a leap for society in general and will show us the true meaning of mobile, according to Mazin Gilbert (pictured), vice president of advanced technology and systems at AT&T Inc.

“It will really free us to be mobile, untethered, and to explore new experiences that we’ve never had before,” Mazin said.

Gilbert spoke with Maribel Lopez (@MaribelLopez), principal analyst and founder at Lopez Research LLC and guest host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AT&T Spark event in San Francisco. They discussed 5G’s practical potential and what artificial intelligence brings to the future of networking. 

5G and AI tag-team the next-gen network

Today, we think of the data center as a bunch of compute, storage, etc., sitting in some definite location. “In the 5G era with the edge, think of compute and storage as following you,” Gilbert said. This will enable all sorts of real-time communication — with virtual reality and augmented reality — between people in different locations. Together with the programmability of networks and AI, 5G is ushering in a totally autonomous world … “a world in which we’re able to experience drones flying and repairing cell sites or repairing oil tanks without us being involved,” Gilbert added.

Some already-hyped technology will not even get off the ground without 5G. “We cannot do autonomous cars today without the intelligence, the speeds and the latency of 5G so that all cars connect and talk to each other in a split of a second,” Gilbert stated.

5G and AI pack a potent punch that will clear away a lot of snafus that have held back fancy use cases for years, according to Gilbert. “The network is the most complex project ever to be created on the planet. And it’s a complex project that changes every second of the day as people move around and they try different devices,” he said. “To be able to optimize that experience is really an AI problem.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AT&T Spark event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE