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Analog chip paves the way for sustainable AI

As the resources required by artificial intelligence increase unsustainably, an analog design provides an energy-efficient alternative to digital computer chips — and one that is ideally suited to neural-network computations.
  1. Hechen Wang

    1. Hechen Wang is at Intel Labs, Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, Oregon 97124, USA.

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From adjusting the tone of e-mails to generating stunning imagery, artificial intelligence (AI) has already cemented its place in everyday life. However, training a large language model, such as ChatGPT, and handling the daily queries it receives, requires data centres that generate thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions and cost millions of dollars (see go.nature.com/3qepnpv). Given these requirements, the development of generative AI is expected to stall soon if it continues to rely on standard computing hardware. Analog AI is a promising and sustainable solution that can minimize the time and energy spent on computations. Writing in Nature, Ambrogio et al.1 present an analog AI implementation for natural-language processing.

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Nature 620, 731-732 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02569-7

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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