Future Computers Will Be Like the Human Brain
Qiangfei Xia Distinguished Faculty Lecture
Content
UMass Amherst Distinguished Faculty Lecture
Presented by: Qiangfei Xia
Dev and Linda Gupta Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
Future Computers Will Be Like the Human Brain
March 27, 2025
4 p.m. at OId Chapel
No registration required.
The upswing of ChatGPT has sparked tremendous interest in artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, the computer systems behind these achievements consume as much electricity as a small power plant, and such supercomputers will cause severe issues of energy, environment, and social equity unless we change our current hardware. Cue the human brain: It’s perhaps the world’s most powerful computational system, but we have yet to develop AI systems that can perform simple human-like cognitive functions with the reliability and efficiency of their biological counterparts. Professor Qiangfei Xia will share his research on building brain-inspired computing systems and their applications in machine intelligence. He will also review the evolution of computer hardware and elaborate on the importance of the brain-like computer under the CHIPS and Science Act—the most significant investment in research and development by the U.S. government to date.
About the Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
Established in 1974, the annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of our most esteemed and accomplished faculty members. The lecture series not only honors individual faculty members and their achievements, but also celebrates the values of academic excellence that we share as a community. Each honoree is presented with the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest recognition bestowed upon faculty by the campus.