The IT giant IBM has claimed that its 'brain-like' chip prototype might improve the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI).

According to the BBC, there are increasing worries about the emissions produced by the enormous warehouses filled with computers that run AI systems.

According to IBM, its prototype could lead to more efficient, less battery-draining AI chips for smartphones.

The prototype's effectiveness is due to components that function similarly to connections in human brains, according to reports.

According to researcher Thanos Vasilopoulos of IBM's research facility in Zurich, Switzerland, “The human brain is able to achieve remarkable performance while consuming little power in comparison to conventional computers.”

Vasilopoulos says superior energy efficiency would mean large and more complex workloads could be executed in low power or battery-constrained environments, such as cars, mobile phones and cameras.
“Additionally, cloud providers will be able to use these chips to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint,” adds Vasilopoulos.

The majority of chips are digital which means that information is stored as 0s and 1s, but the new chip makes use of memristors, which are analogue components that can store a variety of numbers.

According to Prof Ferrante Neri of the University of Surrey, memristors are a type of computing that is nature-inspired and imitates brain function.

In terms of the future of chips utilizing this technology, he was cautiously optimistic: These advancements suggest that we may be on the cusp of witnessing the emergence of brain-like chips in the near future.

Neri pointed out that developing a memristor-based computer is a difficult endeavour and that there will be several barriers to widespread adoption, including expensive material costs and difficult manufacturing procedures.