Going neuro down in data centros
The idea of processors acting like brains is as old as computers, but when it comes to energy efficiency they have a long way to go
Dick Pountain is editorial fellow. His neurons are more spiky than most, alright? go@dick-pountain
I’ve written many sceptical words about AI in this column, railing against overconfidence and hype, hubristic pursuit of AGI, deepfakery and content pillage. Nevertheless I do believe that AI – once we’ve civilised it – is going to be hugely important to science, economics, robotics, control systems, transport and everyday life. This assumes that, through political will, public concern about misinformation, invasion of privacy and theft of artistic data can be regulated away. Even then, one colossal stumbling block will remain: energy consumption.