In the last section, we saw the various services offered by Google Cloud Platform. One of the services we saw in that section is Google Cloud AI Services. Before we start exploring Google Cloud AI Services, let's understand what it's importance is.

We have been using the cloud as a central entity for storing data and providing scalable computing for more than a decade now. Until recently, all applications had intelligence built in locally. Times have changed; we are now using the cloud as a central dispatcher for intelligence. We have separated the application from its intelligence and have hosted the intelligence so that everyone can use it and not just the application.

So, what exactly is AI in the cloud? It is when clients upload data to a cognitive service, and the service responds with a prediction.

Let's take a moment to understand the three previously highlighted terms: the clients, the data, and the cognitive service. This helps us better define AI on the cloud.