New chip architectures for today's AI

Most advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have so far been confined to software. Today's AI computer programmes are vast users of data. They sift through these data and use methods such as pattern recognition. For instance, an online retailer like Amazon looks at your past history of browsing for a particular product online and then "matches" this use pattern to effectively target advertisements to you through sites like Facebook and Google so that you are enticed to buy. This is simple enough, but a similar method sits behind more advanced uses of AI such as self-driving vehicles.