I'm as excited as the next HNer about technology and the future, but a couple things just irk me about this
> "Advances in microelectronics have enabled the use of miniaturized computers for autonomous intelligence at the size of a dust particle..."
Calling it "intelligence" is just tiring at this point...
Then
"> While these lab-level demonstrations show the future of ubiquitous computing, dust-sized computers will only become a new class of computing platforms if they are available anywhere anytime, relying on energy-autonomous operation."
It's the "anywhere" that bothers me... do we really want a virtually infinite number of electronic devices around us? How do we dispose of these things? Recycle? Make them biodegradable? And then you throw batteries into the mix? Am I supposed to be breathing in Zinc and Germanium in 20 years?
This has been on my to-read list for a long time. Thanks for mentioning it's related to this, sounds like a neat transition to go from Diamond Age to this!
This is a very achievable grey goo. I almost think we should have a minimum size of microprocessor, chip, robot, computer at 1 square centimeter. Not allowed to go under that.
> Calling it "intelligence" is just tiring at this point...
I think more what they are getting at here is emergence[0] rather than "intelligence" like AI/AGI/ML or animal intelligence. Ants are fairly dumb and have mostly simple rule sets but create a form of intelligence through emergent properties. Similarly Conway's Game of Life or even physics itself. I think the problem is that intelligence is often used as a buzzword in marketing and can send mixed signals and makes it difficult to determine what authors mean.
Does the size of a computer limit it’s energy consumption. Meaning is there an equation describing power consumption limits of a circuit based on size.
Energy consumption would be limited by supply and energy dissipation, and energy dissipation (roughly speaking) depends on surface area and thermal conductivity. So, yes, for all devices made with a given shape and given materials, there is such an equation.
In theory, I guess, there’s also such an equation for the “upper limit” of heat dissipation for size, for a computer using the optimal shape and optimal materials. But since that probably concerns several-atom-thick devices made of diamond or something, that’s probably not practically useful anytime soon. :)
> "Advances in microelectronics have enabled the use of miniaturized computers for autonomous intelligence at the size of a dust particle..."
Calling it "intelligence" is just tiring at this point...
Then
"> While these lab-level demonstrations show the future of ubiquitous computing, dust-sized computers will only become a new class of computing platforms if they are available anywhere anytime, relying on energy-autonomous operation."
It's the "anywhere" that bothers me... do we really want a virtually infinite number of electronic devices around us? How do we dispose of these things? Recycle? Make them biodegradable? And then you throw batteries into the mix? Am I supposed to be breathing in Zinc and Germanium in 20 years?