What Is Edge AI?
Search Enterprise AI, September 17,2025
Edge artificial intelligence (edge AI) is a paradigm for crafting AI workflows. It's part of centralized cloud data centers and edge devices outside the cloud that are closer to humans and physical things.
This is in contrast to the more common practice of developing and running AI applications entirely in the cloud, which is being called cloud AI. It also differs from older AI development approaches in which people craft AI algorithms on desktops and deploy them on desktops or special hardware for tasks such as reading check numbers.
The concept of the edge is often characterized as a physical thing, such as a network gateway, smart router or an intelligent 5G cell tower. However, this misses the edge AI's value to devices, such as cellphones, autonomous cars and robots. A more helpful way to understand the importance of edge environments is to think of them as a means to extend digital transformation practices innovated in the cloud to the world.