An AI chip that can reduce electronic waste is here. And much like LEGO bricks, it's modular. Fascinating, right? Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with a way to prolong the life-cycle of your smartphones, smartwatches, and other handheld devices.
What if you could upgrade your smartphone's sensors and processors simply by swapping the old ones for improved versions? According to MIT researchers, these would snap onto a device's internal chip - akin to how LEGO bricks work.
Their goal? To simply reduce electronic waste. Each time you invest in a new device and discard your old one (even if you didn't need the upgrade), you add to electronic waste. Unless recycled properly, all components of a smartphone or smartwatch are left to whither in the environment.
The team, whose fascinating results were published in Nature Electronics, told Interesting Engineering how in an "internet-of-things (IoT) environment, there's a growing interest in multi-functionality and reconfigurability combined with sensor networks."
The design has two alternating layers of sensors and processors, along with LED that facilitates communication among the chip's layers. Conventional modular designs are dependent on static wiring that can not be rewired or modified.
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To this end, MIT researchers used light to transmit information through the chip, instead of relying on physical wires. Each layer may be replaced for a new one as tech is updated.
"We call this a LEGO-like reconfigurable AI chip because it has unlimited expandability depending on the combination of layers," MIT's Jihoon Kang said in a press release.
Through their "brain-on-a-chip" approach, the design is able to perform basic image-recognition tasks. In addition, it may be trained to process directly on a chip without relying on software or the internet.
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Each layer of the chip platform could be sold separately, a lot like a video game, according to MIT's Jeehwan Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering.
What do you think about LEGO-like processors and sensors for your smartphones? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.
References
Theresa, D. (2022b, June 15). MIT built a new reconfigurable AI chip that can reduce electronic waste. Interesting Engineering.?