This is my understanding from CS. CPUs are designed to be general purpose which unfortunately also means that they are slower and less efficient than dedicated

This is my understanding from CS. CPUs are designed to be general purpose which unfortunately also means that they are slower and less efficient than dedicated logic circuits. The implication of FPGAs is efficient and high speed hardware-coded algorithms which can be reprogrammed. It's almost like you're refactoring the hardware using software, giving you the ability to upgrade a chips capabilities over time.