Rorry Brenner - Perforated Backpropagation (AI meetup in SF)

Last night I heard Rorry Brenner speak about artificial dendrite nodes at an AI meetup in San Francisco. 

What's happening: The AI meetup was held at the GitHub office in SoMa, which was less than a mile from our office on Market Street. 

Founder of Perforated AI, Rorry introduced the concept of artificial dendrite nodes to a packed audience.

Did you say dendrite?: Yes, indeed. As a recap, neural networks in computing are inspired by our understanding of how the human brain works.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) simulate neurons via math:

• Each node (artificial neuron) receives inputs.

• Each input is multiplied by a weight (simulating synaptic strength)

• The weighted inputs are summed and passed through an activation function (mimicking whether the neuron "fires").

• The result is sent to the next layer of neurons

In the human brain, dendrites receive signals from other neurons. Rorry's breakthrough was recognizing how important dendrites are to the brain, and then artificially replicating them for use in neural networks.

That's the big idea behind Perforated AI.

See also: How Dendrite Nodes Work

My takeaways: 

• Neural networks were invented in 1943, before the first electronic computer.
• Dendrites are what neurons connect to
• Perforated AI is built for PyTorch
• "What if you gave a neuron an extra connection?" Rorry
• Rorry suggested that 90% cost savings can be achieved, based on how LLMs are built now.
  

The bottom line: It was my second AI meetup of the year. I look forward to the next one.

Enjoy the videos and pics!

GitHub graciously opened their HQ to over 220 AI geeks like me last night.

Pro tip: Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you can eat for free in Silicon Valley. Yes, it's usually pizza.

Living in San Francisco means living in the future. That's why I love it here.