Goodmorning, Normal People!

This week we’re going back to school a little bit, taking a look each day at some of the basic vocabulary necessary for building an understanding of AI.
ICYMI – Yesterday we asked a simple question: What is AI? The answer might not be as straightforward as you think.

Today I want to move from a philosophical conversation to a more physical one – we’ve talked about what AI is, but like.. what is it? That is to say, "What is it made of?” May I introduce to you the beating heart of artificial intelligence, and today’s topic: the GPU.

But before we jump right in, how about a little fun? Our first ever AIFNP POP QUIZ!

Ahh, the thrill of learning. 🤓 

Just to make things a little more interesting, we’ve got a surprise for those who answer correctly on at least ONE poll this week (no need for screenshots, we’ve got receipts). 🧾 

To start, let’s see what ChatGPT has to say about today’s term:

Well said, my dear chatbot.

A GPU is technically a type of processor, like the brain of the computer. Unlike a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is designed for general-purpose computing and can handle a wide range of tasks, a GPU is specifically optimized for something called parallel processing, where many calculations are done simultaneously. This difference makes GPUs highly efficient for tasks that require processing lots of data at once, which is what made it so valuable to a video game industry whose graphics have grown exponentially more demanding in recent years.

You may be asking yourself – so this is a video game chip? What does that have to do with AI?

Great point! Although they were originally designed for video games, GPUs ended up being incredibly useful for AI. The most popular of these, the H100 by NVIDIA, is essentially like gold to startups and developers across the world. In fact, Mark Zuckerburg referenced Meta’s large storehouse of them as the key reason people should come work for him.

TL;DR: The GPU is the beating heart of today’s AI models, and although you probably won’t ever own one yourself, these lightning-fast processors sell like hotcakes to tech companies training their AI models.

That’s all for today! We’ll be back again tomorrow with another term and another quiz.

Onward,

Brady Fowlkes

Subscriber Count 👉 302 🎉 

We did it!!! In the past 24 hours we BLEW past our goal of 250 subscribers by the end of January… CAN WE DO 500?! 🚀🚀

Do you know any other normal people?!
Share this sign-up link with them today!