The Microprocessor: Driving the Information Age
Federico Faggin compares the impact of the microprocessor to that of the engine during the industrial revolution, highlighting its role in extending human intellectual capacities.
The 4004 microprocessor, which he designed, was a groundbreaking achievement, delivering the same computing power as the massive ENIAC computer in a tiny package.
Faggin sees the microprocessor as the core element driving the information age, enabling humans to process vast amounts of information and expand their capabilities beyond what was previously possible.
He emphasizes that the microprocessor extends human brain power, allowing us to reach new areas of knowledge and innovation that were previously inaccessible.
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Faggin says the microprocessor allowed the creation of thousands of different types of products, all powered by what he calls "a speck of intelligence." And these devices are now connecting with one another and connecting people through the Internet.
"I think [the] Internet represents the collection of all the power of this engine, and it's the defining capacity of microprocessors," said Faggin. "It connects people at a planetary scale. It connects things and provides flows of information, which are useful for communication, control and computation."
The future is sure to bring faster, cheaper, more power-efficient computers, says Faggin. However, even if quantum computers become a reality, which Faggin says could bring capabilities beyond today's mechanical versions, computers will not match the complex intelligence of human consciousness.
"I think that human intelligence, especially in the lower manifestations of it, will be aided tremendously by computers, but there are aspects of human capacities that we don't define as intelligence, which have to do with intuition, will, intention, imagination and creativity," he said.
Although logic is a term the computer industry uses when referring to central processing units, or microprocessors, Faggin says human consciousness entails more than logical thought processes and the ability to rationalize. The human brain, he contends, gives a person keen awareness of oneself and one's surroundings. It is motivated by powerful subconscious and emotional processes that work beneath or alongside logical thinking.
"Consciousness is the ability that human beings have to experience, to think, to know that they know, or to know that they don't know," said Faggin. "A machine cannot do that."
Faggin, born and educated in Italy, spent a career turning complex ideas and blueprints for real-world computing. In November 2010, he joined Hoff and Mazur in receiving the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama.
"I grew up in Vicenza, which is near Venice in Italy," said Faggin. "When I was a child, I was interested in machines."
His first love was airplanes. He remembers wanting to become an aeronautical engineer so he could design and build large model planes.
"As I grew up, I became more interested in science and decided to study physics, which then gave me an understanding of the basic workings of the universe," he said.
Early in his career while working at SGS Fairchild in Italy in 1968, he recalls inventing and developing silicon gate technology, which would become the basis for building tiny transitors that could rapidly switch on and off.
A few years later, start-up company Intel came knocking. Les Vadez, one of the founding members of Intel, which at the time was a fledgling memory chip company, invited Faggin to help with a secret project. Faggin accepted and immediately began drafting the blueprint for what would become the Intel 4004. The chip was specifically built for an advanced calculator by Japan's Busicom, but Faggin knew it was destined for much more than just calculators.