Intel has been scratching to keep up with AMD all of this year, but in one area they might exceed Team Red is in making the first "self-learning" processor that is designed to learn like the human brain.
Intel is calling this new processor the "Intel Loihi test chip", something Chipzilla refers to as a "neuromorphic chip", meaning that it is designed to learn from its environment. This new self-learning processor could be used in any number of AI-intensive applications, but Intel says that it will make a huge impact in industrial automation and personal robotics.
Michael Mayberry, Managing Director of Intel Labs, wrote in a statement: "The Intel Loihi research test chip includes digital circuits that mimic the brain's basic mechanics, making machine learning faster and more efficient while requiring lower compute power. This could help computers self-organize and make decisions based on patterns and associations".
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This isn't the first AI-specific processor that has been made, with Google using its cloud-based Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) that make machine learning processes much faster, but Intel's using a different approach with their Loihi test processors.
Intel's new AI processors learn locally, inside of the machine they're installed. The self-learning capabilities that are inside of the CPU could be much better than cloud-based solutions, as it doesn't need to transfer data in and out of the PC - as it all sits inside of the AI processor.
Intel's new AI chip is a prototype right now, with researchers putting plenty of hours into it... I'm sure we won't be far away from Skynet.
