This light-driven prototype could empower smarter and smaller autonomous technologies like drones and robotics, plus smart wearables and bionic implants like artificial retinas. The study, from an international team of researchers led by RMIT University, is published in the journal Advanced Materials recently.
Walia, who also co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group, said. He also added,
The prototype is inspired by optogenetics. It is an emerging tool in biotechnology that allows scientists to examine the body’s electrical system with great precision and use light to manipulate neurons. The AI chip is based on an ultra-thin black phosphorous, that changes electrical resistance in response to different wavelengths of light.
Typically artificial intelligence relies heavily on software and off-site data processing, but the new prototype aims to change that by integrating electronic hardware and intelligence together. The best analogy to describe it would be of a dashcam in a car that’s integrated with such neuro-inspired hardware which can recognize lights, signs, objects and make instant decisions, without having to connect to the internet.
This new chip can now capture and automatically enhance images, classify numbers, and be trained to recognize patterns and images with an accuracy rate of over 90%. The device is also compatible with existing electronics and silicon technologies, for effortless future integration.
Read more: NEW LIGHT-POWERED AI CHIP TRIES TO MIMIC HUMAN BRAIN
