RE: Hardware Progress: $272/GFlop/s

From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Tue Aug 27 2002 - 08:57:22 MDT


> >I track $/Gflop because it directly relates to the
> >primary subject of this list - the development of
> >computer-based AI as a path to the Singularity.
> >
>
> I tend to think it is correct to evaluate things that way.
> Although so far there is no clear arithmetical link between
> processor speed
> and AI "efficiency".

There has been disappointingly little progress toward Artificial General
Intelligence, in spite of the increases in processor speed and other
important parameters of computer hardware. I believe this is because AGI
requires some real conceptual innovations just to seriously get started, and
that once these conceptual innovations are embodied in running code for the
first time, THEN we will see a direct correlation btw AGI effectiveness and
processor speed.

I'm not so sure there isn't a clear relationship between processor speed and
narrow-AI efficiency, however.

AI chess-playing is an example. I think the quality of chess programs'
gameplay has pretty much increased right along with processor speed.
Certainly the algorithms involved in these programs (alpha-beta pruning with
special evaluation heuristics) are simple and are able to make direct use of
increased processor speed.

-- Ben G



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