Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagEnergy use

3d-illustration-concept-image-embossed-mesh-representing-internet-connections-in-cloud-computing-stockpack-adobe-stock
3D illustration, concept image. Embossed mesh representing internet connections in cloud computing.

The Secret Ingredient for AI: Ergodicity

If you don't know the term, you need to

Deep learning used to train AlphaGo data used to train neural networks must display ergodicity: The data to which the computer learning program is exposed must also characterize data that it has not seen. Before applying AI in deep convolutional neural networks, practitioners need to address whether the problem under consideration is “ergodic.” 1 We are rightly amazed when deep learning wins at Atari arcade games using only display pixels. But in doing so, the AI is exposed to the same game again and again (and again). The scenarios change, but the game and its rules remain static. The same is true with chess or GO. When trained and tested against a human opponent, we know that the AI will Read More ›

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Huge smoke clouds on sky background

Cloud Computing? There’s a Lot of Smoke in Those Clouds

Big Tech creates many environment issues that we do not often hear about, the way we hear about coal mines and landfills

When we think about environment problems, we naturally imagine huge smokestacks turning the sky dark and coating the trees with soot. But glitzy high tech stuff like cloud computing and cryptocurrency use a lot of energy too. Cloud computing, where we use computing resources via the internet without installing and maintaining them, is a huge energy hog we never see: The music video for “Despacito” set an Internet record in April 2018 when it became the first video to hit five billion views on YouTube. In the process, “Despacito” reached a less celebrated milestone: it burned as much energy as 40,000 U.S. homes use in a year. Naomi Xu Elegant, “The Internet Cloud Has a Dirty Secret” at Fortune (September Read More ›