"What the brain tells us about the future of silicon"

Many computer and semiconductor manufacturers are looking for new growth opportunities that are not based on traditional von-Neumann architectures. They are also concerned about the potential end of "Moore's law". This has led to an increased interest in artificial neural networks, and neuromorphic hardware that can support these systems. It is well known that the brain is power efficient and naturally fault tolerant. Therefore, much research is being done on how silicon can support neural architectures while achieving greater power efficiency and greater storage density. I will make two main arguments.