NEWS  AI  December 3, 2023  Reading time: 2 Minute(s)

Max (RS editor)

In the comedic clash of the AI titans, Meta's chief scientist, Yann LeCun, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have thrown down their metaphorical gauntlets, and it's not just about who can train the best artificial intelligence—it's an all-out "AI war."LeCun, with a twinkle in his eye, suggests that Huang is not just in the business of AI; he's a weapons supplier in this technological battleground. "There is an AI war, and he’s supplying the weapons", LeCun quips, subtly hinting at the GPU arms race.

But what's the battlefield? According to LeCun, it's not the futuristic realm of human-level AI, but rather a more down-to-earth setting: "cat-level" or "dog-level" AI. Forget about AI mastering human-like intelligence; apparently, we'll be playing fetch with our AI companions long before they start debating the meaning of life.

LeCun dismisses the current obsession with language models, stating that text is a "very poor source of information". After all, who has the time to read 20,000 years worth of text just to figure out that if A equals B, then B equals A? Not AI, according to LeCun, who humorously highlights the basic things AI systems miss out on during their extensive training.

But fear not, fellow humans! Meta is on the case, delving into the world of multimodal AI. LeCun and his Meta cohorts are like the Avengers of the AI realm, blending audio, image, and video data to create AI systems that can not only help us play tennis but also potentially perform more fantastical feats. Just imagine an AI-powered tennis coach giving you pointers through augmented reality glasses—what a time to be alive!

And what about the hardware of the future? LeCun foresees a world where graphical processing units (GPUs) are no longer en vogue. Instead, we'll have "neural, deep learning accelerators". It's not just about GPUs; it's about those chips that accelerate our journey into the neural abyss.

As for quantum computing, LeCun throws a splash of skepticism into the mix. While tech giants are investing heavily in quantum, LeCun raises an eyebrow, suggesting that classical computers might still have the upper hand in efficiency. Quantum computing, according to him, is a fascinating scientific topic—emphasis on "fascinating," perhaps hinting at the intrigue surrounding quantum's practical relevance.

In the end, Meta's senior fellow, Mike Schroepfer, provides the punchline, stating that while quantum may have its time, it's so far in the future that it's "irrelevant to what we're doing." Talk about putting quantum on the back burner!

And so, the AI comedy unfolds—a tale of wars, weapons, and wondering if our AI companions will ever truly understand the intricacies of human existence. Stay tuned for the next episode of "AI Chronicles", where the laughs are just as artificial as the intelligence we're trying to create!