OTC GPT-x
OTC GPT-x: Over The Counter General Panacea Tip (For) Anything.
World in post Covid phase is seeing a curious trend - weak demand and inflation! While customers seem to be satisfied with refurbished smartphones, Apple spent $1B on development of its new chip, notwithstanding the question or doubt, if and when it will go to high volume manufacturing (HVM), given consumers (lack of) appetite for newer products. Having worked in developing flows and working on various tools, AI/ML seem to be the magic pill to give a hefty bill. Nvidia is supposed to showcase how its chips help in AI/ML rather than show(cas)ing how it is using AI/ML to build a chip. Building a chip to help its own development is a comical paradox.
AI vs automation is becoming increasingly harder to distinguish and is only ending up as a subterfuge to justify (increasing) cost of products/tools, forget CxOs, and more importantly an excuse, if not pretext, to hollow out the worker hierarchy pyramid, which is increasingly becoming a scaffolding where 'most work' is automated enough to be run by fewer (or more younger/cheaper?) workers. This issue had been highlighted as early as 2008, especially in advanced economies, though equally, if not more, important is the other point mentioned in the same slide about increasing inequality. Automation has always been done, and so what is claimed to be new now, is not (sought to be made) clear. GPT has helped to jargonize, if not sound overcomplicated, to justify increasing costs for doing the same thing that has been done for decades, if not more!
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Semiconductor 4.0 needs to focus and propagate the real changes including chiplets, 3-D ICs etc. Fabless players going towards 3-D integration and fabs throwing its doors open for all players including self could be the actual and systemic change. Automation and super-automation are an on-going process (WIP) and software tools/engineers need to pull up their socks to show that they are really 'on to something', otherwise it will end up as Monty Python Flying Circus, pun (un)intended.