论文标题
硬件彩票
The Hardware Lottery
论文作者
论文摘要
硬件，系统和算法研究社区历史上具有不同的激励结构，并显式地互相互动。鉴于硬件和软件经常确定哪种研究思想成功（和失败），这种历史疗法很奇怪。本文介绍了一词硬件彩票，以描述研究想法何时获胜，因为它适合可用的软件和硬件，而不是因为该想法优于替代研究方向。早期计算机科学历史的示例说明了硬件彩票如何通过将成功的想法视为失败来延迟研究进度。鉴于域专业硬件的出现，这些课程特别突出，这使得越来越多地摆脱了人迹罕至的研究思想之路。这篇文章认为，计算进步的收益可能会变得更加不平衡，某些研究方向进入了快车道，而其他研究的进展则进一步受到阻碍。
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 make it increasingly costly to stray off of the beaten path of research ideas. This essay posits that the gains from progress in computing are likely to become even more uneven, with certain research directions moving into the fast-lane while progress on others is further obstructed.
