Category: Computers
-
Natural. Unnatural. How natural…
To find out which sights specific neurons in monkeys ‘like’ best, researchers designed an algorithm, called XDREAM, that generated images that made neurons fire more than any natural images the researchers tested. As the images evolved, they started to look like distorted versions of real-world stimuli. (1) Round and round we go. Trying to understand…
-
Quantum computers: Meet my new computer. Different than the old computer…
In theory, quantum computers can do anything that a classical computer can. In practice, however, the quantumness in a quantum computer makes it nearly impossible to efficiently run some of the most important classical algorithms. The traditional grade-school method for multiplication requires n^2 steps, where n is the number of digits of the numbers you’re multiplying. For…
-
The limits of AI…
A team of mathematicians and AI researchers discovered that despite the seemingly boundless potential of machine learning, even the cleverest algorithms are nonetheless bound by the constraints of mathematics. Research showed that a machine’s ability to actually learn – called learnability – can be constrained by mathematics that is unprovable. In other words, it’s basically…
-
Back to analog… Looking at the forest again…
Analog computers were used to predict tides from the early to mid-20th century, guide weapons on battleships and launch NASA’s first rockets into space. They first used gears and vacuum tubes, and later, transistors, that could be configured to solve problems with a range of variables. They perform mathematical functions directly. For instance, to add 5…
-
AI. Positive. Negative. One. Zero.
Classifying things is critical for our daily lives. For example, we have to detect spam mail, fake political news, as well as more mundane things such as objects or faces. When using AI, such tasks are based on “classification technology” in machine learning – having the computer learn using the boundary separating positive and negative…
You must be logged in to post a comment.