Scaling compute: AI at 1/1000th the cost

The digital electronics industry that has transformed our lives in immeasurable ways is defined by the simple fact that, for 60+ years, we have benefited from exponentially more computing power, at lower cost. This fact is no longer true. For the first time in history, increased performance requires increasing costs and this coincides with an explosion of demand for more compute power driven by AI. Our current mechanisms for training AI systems utilise a narrow set of algorithms and hardware building blocks, which require significant capital to develop and manufacture. The combination of this significance and scarcity has far-reaching economic, geopolitical and societal implications. What we're shooting for: We see an opportunity to draw inspiration from natural processing systems, which innately process complex information more efficiently (on several orders or magnitude) than today's largest AI systems. Our goal: to increase + open up new vectors of progress in the field of computing by reducing the cost of AI hardware. In doing so, we'll open up new opportunities to reap the economic + social benefits of AI, from accelerating scientific research to improving the efficiency of our public services. In order to realise these targets, we're looking to fund three Technical Areas. For more info see http://aria.org.uk/scaling-compute