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by deepnotderp 2960 days ago
Please explain where analog computation has a benefit over digital that outweighs its numerous disadvantages.
1 comments

Wait, aren’t you working on analog chips?
No.

You may have confused me with the Isocline/Mythic guys or a red herring comment. Our approach to deep learning chips is very public and amongst the craziest...A̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶n̶a̶l̶o̶g̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶u̶t̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶

To clarify: I'm always open to opposing evidence, but based on the data at the moment, I believe that analog computing buys you very little.

I'm sure you know both cons and pros of analog computing. As long as you can significantly improve digital tech every year, keep doing that. But as soon as that stops, or becomes too expensive, analog is the way forward.
Again, what advantage does analog have?

People seem to assume that analog intrinsically consumes less power, which due to bias and leakage currents isn't true in the general case.