Teresa McGaughey provided the big picture regarding AI and automation at the Tech Perspectives with the Broadband Forum
“It’s [AI] helping us be better. And that’s the same thing that Google did with their protein folding, is they did what couldn’t be done by humans without the AI. So that’s going to help fuel economic growth, because now we’re going to see ways that we can do things we couldn’t do before.”
Teresa McGaughey, VP Global Field and Partner Marketing and Enablement, Calix
Thanks to the Broadband Forum, my employer, for supporting this newsletter. The content, views, and opinions expressed herein are not those of the Broadband Forum.
Speaking on the Tech Perspectives with Broadband Forum panel, “What are the steps to migrate to an automated and AI/ML Network?”, Teresa provided a high-level view of the growth mindset enabled by AI. It was a great start to a panel that looked in detail at how operators can apply AI to the network to improve operations and create new revenue opportunities that wouldn’t be practical without the automation that AI enables.
XGS-PON & Beyond, Connected Homes & Building, Network Monetization Opportunities
The recording of that session, along with the other Broadband Forum-produced, BASe at Fiber Connect 26 sessions, can be found at the link below. A few of the threads throughout these sessions were the continuing convergence of networks onto a single platform, the importance of quality of experience, and the opportunities that AI has in helping improve those opportunities while driving new revenue streams.
AI Eats Software Eats the World
McGaughey is correct in that AI can enable and teach things that otherwise might not be obtainable. A small example of this is the article, “Generative AI as an Extreme Compression Method,” from 2025. It was an AI conversation about prompts as a compression method that led to an article, a discovery about NPUs, and an experiment. For historical purposes, a new Viodi category, AI Experiments, includes this article, and Viodi’s other experiments and learnings with AI, such as the two that follow below.
AI-Generated Speaker Timer
A few days before Fiber Connect, one of the speakers asked if we would have a timer. A great question and yet another thing that I had dropped from my “to-do” list. Having just bought a slick USB-powered extender monitor, it seemed like this could be a display for a timer. The next thing was to ask Gemini to find a speaker timer. The commercial timers it found didn’t meet my requirements, but the one that Gemini vibe coded did.
Sleep Noise Generator – An AI Experiment
Emboldened by the success of the AI-generated speaker timer, when a sleep noise-generator came up in conversation, the prompt immediately came to mind: “Please make a noise generator for optimizing sleep.” The one-shot solution is on this page. Sweet dreams.
Some Chirps and Short Thoughts
- The recording of last week’s webinar “AI in Broadband: Operator Plans and Evolving Standards Requirements” is definitely worth a listen as representatives from AT&T China Unicom and Deutsche Telekom provide their views on the impact of AI in broadband networks.
- “Thoughtful piece from @Abi0lvera explores the less-discussed benefits of AVs for low-income families and people who are unable to drive.” Greg Rogers
- Tesla’s Etherloop patent harkens back to the days of E/O Networks’ counter-rotating ring Fiber-to-the-Curb system. It reduces wires (155 in the Cybertruck compared to 490 in a Model 3), while introducing redundancy. Pretty cool.
- Incognito Software System’s Sonya Goodanetz did a great job of introducing the 2026 Innovation Demonstrations. Here is a soundbite from one of her talks at Network X, where she hinted at one of this year’s upcoming demonstrations.
The Korner – No Hassle, Continuous Gut Monitoring for Proactive Health
Scott Hickle delivers a serious message in an enthusiastic and lighthearted way. As co-founder of Throne Science, his passion is to deliver a “nearable”: a sensor that transforms a toilet into a hands-free, gut-health tracking device. In this brief interview, he touches upon how his co-founder’s struggle with managing the uncertainty of a chronic gut condition served as a primary motivator for creating a device that provides objective data on digestive health.
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