AI for Photonics and Photonics for AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a disrupting technology, which has been changing our world. Photonics is a well-established technology, encompassing the generation, emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and detection of light. The aim of this work is two-fold. From one side we aim to explore how AI methods can be used in Photonics applications, understanding the ubiquity of such models thanks to a journey through some authors' Machine Learning applications, going from images in Radiomics up to time series analysis. We will show strengths and weaknesses of AI in Photonics, along with new possible perspectives. In addition, we will explore the integration of Photonics and AI, which is a burgeoning field that leverages the strengths of both technologies to overcome limitations inherent in traditional electronic-based computing systems. Actually, AI models, especially those utilizing Artificial Neural Networks, require substantial computational power and speed, which can be enhanced through photonic technologies. This synergy between AI and Photonics not only can accelerate computational processes but also opens new avenues for implementing advanced Machine Learning models in real-time applications, showcasing a significant paradigm shift in the field of computing.