Just a few years ago, the rise of artificial intelligence was something we could only imagine. Now, AI is showing up in ways and places we never expected.

Today, we depend on our cellphones more than ever. We use them to manage our health, navigate traffic, and stay connected. And AI is quietly powering more of it every day.

Supporting these features is data, and the volume of data we use is also growing. In fact, AI traffic is expected to grow three times faster than wireless traffic. That’s a lot of pressure on the connections we rely on daily.

Today, artificial intelligence needs wireless, and wireless needs AI. Here’s what that means.

How AI & Wireless Work Together

When innovation and smart policy create space for technology to work for us, the possibilities are endless. Just look at how it can help us create a healthier life and get us where we want to go faster.

We spend a lot of time focused on living healthier lives. Many people are already taking advantage of smart and wearable devices that track key health metrics, such as heart rate alerts, sleep wellness, and fitness tracking. Wireless apps can then leverage AI to provide personalized wellness recommendations, enhancing and refining how we can use health data to our benefit.

Our communities are already benefiting from smarter public transit and navigation systems that map out traffic in real time. With the use of AI, this is going to the next level. AI is creating smarter routes, predictive capabilities, and enhancing safety. One example is school transportation. Gone will be the days watching a GPS dot move across the screen. As a recent article puts it:

“Today’s AI systems don’t just track buses; they think. They analyze student population data, traffic patterns, weather conditions, and even construction schedules to optimize routes in ways human planners simply can’t match. We’re talking about districts seeing their on-time arrival rates jump from 85% to 99% after implementing AI-driven routing solutions.”

Wireless networks themselves also benefit from AI optimizing connections for automation. As we look at future benefits, the next generation of wireless networks will rely on AI to manage network demand and help prevent congestion before it even happens, so service reliability increases. While previous networks layered AI on after deployment, 6G will build AI directly into how it operates, ensuring that the devices, apps, and services are working together.

AI Runs On Airwaves

But at the same time, AI can only deliver its vast potential if wireless networks have the capacity to carry it. The airwaves that carry your wireless signal, called licensed spectrum, can help us meet the moment.

Due to increased data demand for AI, 5G, and future networks, the call to expand the spectrum pipeline has never been greater. That’s why Congress recently passed legislation that mandates new wireless airwaves be made available by 2034. It’s important that the promise of this Congressional mandate is realized in order to keep your service fast, affordable, and reliable, as well as to keep up with the increase in AI traffic. According to Accenture, without action, more than one-third of AI traffic could go unmet by 2029.

There are also global and national security implications. As a recent CSIS report puts it, “Given this convergence of factors, spectrum policy is increasingly resembling AI policy, and the failure to adapt to the needs of the present moment ultimately risks U.S. competitiveness against China.”

The reality is that AI, security, and capacity at this level won’t work without wireless connectivity. And wireless connectivity can’t scale without spectrum.

The Hardware Your Network Needs

Whether on your phone, in your car, or on your wrist, artificial intelligence is only as good as the wireless infrastructure that can carry it. If the equipment cannot easily be put in place, then the AI features you depend on, and the AI innovations of the future, get slower, spottier, and more expensive.

Across the country today, the government issues permits for companies to deploy infrastructure, but government processes and regulations can create delays. Put another way: Before a single piece of AI-ready equipment gets installed, it often must clear a gauntlet of federal, state and local regulatory requirements. Every month of permitting delays is a month that AI-ready equipment isn’t serving your neighborhood.

Spectrum and infrastructure are not separate problems. They are the same problem. The airwaves carry AI, and the equipment delivers it. If either falls short, then the benefits you were promised never arrive. What gets decided in Washington over the next few years will either close that gap or widen it.

You have a say in how this turns out. Join us at ACTwireless today to learn how you can support policies that ensure that wireless technology remains fast, affordable, and built for what comes next.