Researchers Achieve AI Breakthrough Using Light To Perform Computations

“Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the development of artificial intelligence by using light instead of electricity to perform computations,” reports the Independent.

“The new approach significantly improves both the speed and efficiency of machine learning neural networks…” A paper describing the research, published this week in the scientific journal Applied Physics Reviews , reveals that their photon-based (tensor) processing unit (TPU) was able to perform between 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than an electric TPU.

“We found that integrated photonic platforms that integrate efficient optical memory can obtain the same operations as a tensor processing unit, but they consume a fraction of the power and have higher throughput,” said Mario Miscuglio, one of the paper’s authors.

“When opportunely trained, [the platforms] can be used for performing inference at the speed of light.”

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Damn, here i am giving presentations about this in my college. Sad life