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AI is a new computer - by Jeff Huber

jeffhuber.substack.com · 369 words · saved by 1 readers

A traditional computer is a universal structured information processor that can simulate any effective procedure (algorithm) given sufficient resources and the proper program. AI is a universal unstructured information processor that can simulate any intuitive procedure (reasoning) given sufficient resources and the proper context. Like a traditional computer, AI will organize storage based on access speed, capacity, and cost. Primitives of a traditional computer: CPU registers/cache: Fastest access, smallest capacity RAM: Fast access, moderate capacity Disk storage: Slower access, large capacity Network storage: Slowest access, potentially unlimited capacity Primitives of an AI computer: Transformer attention heads Context window / KV cache Retrieval data Tool use data To build the great production AI systems of the future - these components must work well together. Memory hierarchy enables software that makes the best tradeoffs of speed, cost and reliability. This stack is in its inf

AI is a new computer How I'm thinking about AI (2025) - Part 2 Jeff Huber Jun 15, 2025 25 1 1 Share AI is a new kind of computer. A traditional computer processes structured data with deterministic instructions. AI processes unstructured data with natural-language nondeterministic instructions. A more formal definition: A traditional computer is a universal structured information processor that can simulate any effective procedure (algorithm) given sufficient resources and the proper program. AI is a universal unstructured information processor that can simulate any intuitive procedure (reason

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