The Hardware Lottery (Paper Explained)

#ai #research #hardware

We like to think that ideas in research succeed because of their merit, but this story is likely incomplete. The term "hardware lottery" describes the fact that certain algorithmic ideas are successful because they happen to be suited well to the prevalent hardware, whereas other ideas, which would be equally viable, are left behind because no accelerators for them exists. This paper is part history, part opinion and gives lots of inputs to think about.

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Intro & Overview
1:15 - The Hardware Lottery
8:30 - Sections Overview
11:30 - Why ML researchers are disconnected from hardware
16:50 - Historic Examples of Hardware Lotteries
29:05 - Are we in a Hardware Lottery right now?
39:55 - GPT-3 as an Example
43:40 - Comparing Scaling Neural Networks to Human Brains
46:00 - The Way Forward
49:25 - Conclusion & Comments

Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.06489
Website: https://hardwarelottery.github.io/

Abstract:
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 makes it increasingly costly to stray off of the beaten path of research ideas.

Authors: Sara Hooker

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