Computing Power Drives the Future

Computing power has long grown at an exponential rate. That rapid advance has allowed digital systems to do more each year. Computer power crossed a major threshold when it made "Artificial Intelligence" driven by deep neural networks economically feasible. And huge investments are being made in ever-larger computer centers to support AI. This book challenges the assumptions behind those huge investments and explains why the generative AI that is making all the news is over-rated.

Computer power crossing a threshold allowed deep neural nets to be practical, and they have indeed been used effectively for many limited applications. Meisel discusses the "next big thing" that exponential growth in computer processing speed will allow. The book provides a realistic description of what we can expect as computer power grows ever more quickly than most past innovations, with major impacts on society, the economy, and competition between countries.