RE: Human Brain vs AI: The 20-Watt Mystery That Could Change How We See Intelligence
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It's kind of hard to wrap our head around but I feel like our whole system requires more than 20 watts to maintain. Sleep is such an important part of cognitive function and if we don't get it our mental function plummets.
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Absolutely! And that's what makes the brain even more fascinating. 😄 The ~20 watts refers to the brain's energy consumption, but the human body is an entire biological system working together to support cognition. Sleep is a perfect example—when we don't get enough of it, our cognitive performance can drop dramatically.
Maybe the real mystery isn't just how much energy the brain uses, but how efficiently the entire human system turns energy into intelligence, consciousness, and experience. That's something AI still makes us question. 🧠🤖
Thanks for adding this perspective! Do you think future AI systems could ever achieve the same kind of energy efficiency as the human brain
I think so. Just like LED lights put out a lot of light compared to their power consumption there will likely be AI models that become more efficient.
Exactly! 🔥 The LED analogy is actually a great way to think about it. Technology often starts by prioritizing raw power and performance, then gradually becomes more efficient.
AI could follow the same path. Maybe the future won't be about building bigger and bigger models, but about creating smarter models that can achieve more with dramatically less energy.
And if AI eventually reaches something close to the brain's efficiency... that could be a much bigger breakthrough than simply making AI more powerful. 🧠⚡🤖
The real question then becomes: how far can we push intelligence per watt?