Inventing the Future of Computing

As researchers confidently predict a future of faster-than-ever transformations in computing, they are creating chips that learn and respond as they gain experience

By Rachael King
CEO Guide to Technology October 31, 2011

In a windowless room deep inside IBM’s Almaden Research Center in San Jose, scientists are teaching a computer chip to learn from what it sees, much like a human.

The effort is paying off, if performance at Pong is any measure. When the chip, part of a project called SyNAPSE, first learned to play the classic videogame in March, it did poorly. Weeks later, the company reports, it was nearly unbeatable.

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