A team of international scientists have performed difficult machine learning computations using a nano-scale device, named an “optomemristor.”

The chalcogenide thin-film device uses both light and electrical signals to interact and emulate multi-factor biological computations of the mammalian brain while consuming very little energy.

To date, research on hardware for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications has concentrated mainly on developing electronic or photonic synapses and neurons, and combining these to carry out basic forms of neural-type processing.