  The next generation wireless networks (i.e. 5G and beyond), which would be
extremely dynamic and complex due to the ultra-dense deployment of
heterogeneous networks (HetNets), poses many critical challenges for network
planning, operation, management and troubleshooting. At the same time,
generation and consumption of wireless data are becoming increasingly
distributed with ongoing paradigm shift from people-centric to machine-oriented
communications, making the operation of future wireless networks even more
complex. In mitigating the complexity of future network operation, new
approaches of intelligently utilizing distributed computational resources with
improved context-awareness becomes extremely important. In this regard, the
emerging fog (edge) computing architecture aiming to distribute computing,
storage, control, communication, and networking functions closer to end users,
have a great potential for enabling efficient operation of future wireless
networks. These promising architectures make the adoption of artificial
intelligence (AI) principles which incorporate learning, reasoning and
decision-making mechanism, as natural choices for designing a tightly
integrated network. Towards this end, this article provides a comprehensive
survey on the utilization of AI integrating machine learning, data analytics
and natural language processing (NLP) techniques for enhancing the efficiency
of wireless network operation. In particular, we provide comprehensive
discussion on the utilization of these techniques for efficient data
acquisition, knowledge discovery, network planning, operation and management of
the next generation wireless networks. A brief case study utilizing the AI
techniques for this network has also been provided.
