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Here's the 'Hardware Lottery' essay that this refers to: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.06489.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.06489.pdf "Hardware, systems and algor
by sdenton4 6y ago
Here's the 'Hardware Lottery' essay that this refers to:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.06489.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.06489.pdf
"Hardware, systems and algorithms research communities have historically
had different incentive structures and fluctuating motivation to engage with
each other explicitly. This historical treatment is odd given that hardware
and software have frequently determined which research ideas succeed (and
fail). This essay introduces the term hardware lottery to describe when a
research idea wins because it is suited to the available software and hardware and not because the idea is superior to alternative research directions.
Examples from early computer science history illustrate how hardware lotteries can delay research progress by casting successful ideas as failures.
These lessons are particularly salient given the advent of domain specialized hardware which make it increasingly costly to stray off of the beaten
path of research ideas. This essay posits that the gains from progress in
computing are likely to become even more uneven, with certain research
directions moving into the fast-lane while progress on others is further obstructed."