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On January 3, a group of cybersecurity experts announced the existence of two security flaws affecting virtually every microprocessor on the planet, codenamed ‘Meltdown’ and ‘Spectre’: the Meltdown exploit affects computer processors that were built by Intel over the past decade, used in the majority of consumers’ personal computers, and over 90 percent of the world’s computer servers; Spectre is somewhat less dangerous, but is more widespread, as it affects not only Intel processors, but also those of their main competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Britain’s Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) chips. These vulnerabilities could potentially allow hackers to access personal data from computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, and cloud servers around the world.
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The actions of a quick thinking cyber security expert may have saved untold thousands of computers around the world from infection from the ransomware known as "WannaCry", a form of malware that crippled hundreds of thousands of computer systems around the world when it was launched on Friday. Cyber-security experts are warning that the attack could rear its ugly head once again, and Microsoft has issued a stern warning against nation-state spy agencies that would hoard such computer vulnerabilities, rather than reporting them to the appropriate vendors so that they can be rectified, rather than being turned into crippling weapons of mass extortion.
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One of the biggest barriers to the implementation of useful artificial intelligence in our culture is the limitations imposed by our computer hardware: modern computer chips have their circuits arranged in a two-dimensional layout, running programs that are meant to mimic our own three-dimensional neurological processes. The 2D setup was, and indeed still is, better suited to the more linear processing that the majority of our computer programs require, but running AI-based programs presents a sizable drop in efficiency — it is apparent that if AI is to grow as a valuable tool, a new form of computer hardware will be required to accommodate it.
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