Daily Tech News 26 February 2023

• Nvidia predicts that within ten years we'll have AI models a million times more powerful than ChatGPT. (PC Gamer)
  
  A million times useless then.
  
  And Nvidia would say that, because ChatGPT runs on approximately $100 million worth of Nvidia graphics cards. (Modern graphics cards are quite good at running AI calculations, and cheaper than dedicated AI hardware.)
  
  
  
• I'm not the only person who sees this connection. (Antipope)
  
  Charlie Stross is a science fiction writer who has written extensively on the technological singularity, where I think the singularity is bullshit, but on this we see eye to eye.

• I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid you're a racist. Would you let ChatGPT control your home? (The Verge)
  
  I mean, cheaper than burning it down, I guess. The only smart device I have in my home - which is brand new - is the washing machine, which is sulking because I have not downloaded its useless companion app. Well, I guess also the interface for the solar panels, but that actually pays me money for the power I feed back to the grid.
  
  
  
• It's time for Google to spin off YouTube. (The Economist)
  
  On the one hand, it's impossible for the outcome to be any worse than it is in the clutches of the hyperwoke and institutionally corrupt Google.
  
  On the other hand, the market is in the shitter right now.
  
  
  
• The Ryzen 7950X3D averages 11% faster than Intel's 13900K across a range of game benchmarks. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Which should make it the fasting gaming CPU available, except that rumours suggest the cheaper 7800X3D might actually be faster - for games, not overall. Games don't really use more than 8 cores, and the 7950 has 16. (The 13900K has 24.)
  
  
  
• Nokia has launched a repairable budget phone. (The Guardian)
  
  Budget seems to be pretty accurate for once - it's priced at around $180 - and repairable means you can buy and replace the battery, display, and power connector yourself. Those are by far the most likely components to fail, so it's a good start.
  
  It has a 720p screen, which is fine at that price, 4GB RAM, 128GB of storage, and an adequate CPU with dual A75 and six A55 cores. It has a microSD slot and a headphone jack - check - and for some reason a 50MP main camera, which is a lot for a budget phone.
  
  There remains the question of how good the rest of the camera system is - the optics and software - but apart from the 720p screen (good but not great) it seems to have everything you need if you use your phone for phone stuff.
  
  
  
• The best graphics cards for running Minecraft RT. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Regular Minecraft will run on anything - it's the server and not your graphics card that is most likely to choke. Minecraft RT adds ray tracing, and while it looks pretty, if you want to play it at 4K at 60 fps there is exactly one graphics card capable of that and it costs $1600. If you'll settle for 1080p and 30fps there are rather a lot more options.

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

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