At a high level, what is the difference between Watson’s cognitive computing capabilities and those of the “neuromorphic” systems under development to mimic the human brain?
Cognitive systems at the beginning of this era of computing were about the size of a room. The Jeopardy! version of Watson utilized 85,000 watts of power to compete with two humans. The human brain uses about 20 watts of power. It took thousands of times more energy for that computer to win just that game versus a human brain. Synaptic or neuromorphic systems are basically trying to mimic the performance and the low power of the brain. We’re exploring what that means with very low-power technologies and very high-density network devices to understand whether we can build something that performs more like a brain than today’s hardwired computers.
IBM schickt Quizkönig Watson zum Geld verdienen. Der Plan sieht vor, dass der Supercomputer Entwicklern künstliche Intelligenz gegen Entgelt über Cloud-Dienste zu Verfügung stellt. Unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Energieverbrauchs gesehen, ist das allerdings der helle Wahnsinn.