AI is dead. Long live accelerated AI.

Now deep learning by computers has been internalised in the CPU, the very heart of the machine. It’s called self-learning.

Cognitive computing required deep neural networks that had to be trained on extensive datasets, but Intel’s neuromorphic chip combines training and inference for on-chip learning on the fly. That sounds like a mouthful, and it is.

Simply put, AI systems required supercomputers and advanced software to learn how to deal with different situations; hefty computing horsepower. Intel’s Loihi2 chip learns from new data, without extra lessons from the cloud; like a human would.

That means your phone, car, camera and watch or drone can now make intelligent decisions much more quickly, without a data link, and using very little energy. Your robotic assistant is going to become a whole lot smarter, and use less battery power to boot.

It’s called pushing intelligence to the edge of the network, and it means all those connected devices, on the internet of things, are going to be able to think for themselves; and learn on the job. A thousand times quicker than Whatsisname.

Soon your phone will know your heart rate is abnormal, and not just the result of jogging or chatting to an attractive person, and call the paramedic for you, even if you’re unconscious. Which could be heaven, or it could be hell, depending on your point of view.

Either way, accelerated AI is coming to switch your future into the fast lane. Are you ready for it?