Researchers from the Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, have unveiled a new technology heralding a new era of sustainable generative artificial intelligence. According to the journal Nature, the technology presents a model based on optics, a form of computing that relies on light instead of traditional electrical signals. The team managed to create models capable of generating new images using this optical system, promising significant energy consumption reduction and expanding the scope of high-performance AI systems while preserving the environment.

Instead of electron movement in electrical circuits, optical computing relies on photons, “particles of light,” which feature tremendous speed and the ability to transmit information in parallel across different wavelengths, making it more efficient and less energy-consuming.

The study’s author, Erdogan Ozcan, Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of California, considered that the technology could transform everyday technologies. Tests showed that the optical model has exceptional efficiency, able to generate artworks inspired by Van Gogh’s style in just one step per wavelength of light, compared to about a thousand computational steps required in traditional models. Despite this huge reduction in processing time, the visual results were qualitatively high in quality and precision.

Regarding security, the system features integrated privacy mechanisms, where multiple patterns or images can be encoded using different light wavelengths and can only be decoded through matching physical surfaces operating on a “key and lock” principle. This feature opens new opportunities to secure digital communications in a way that is difficult to hack or copy by conventional means.

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