As artificial intelligence reshapes nearly every domain, it’s also having a significant impact on our nation’s most powerful supercomputing capabilities. AI and high-performance computing are impacting each other in ways that will dramatically affect how missions are delivered, particularly for critical, high-stakes missions that require real-time information and decision making, including those for the Department of War.
AI Accelerates Better, Faster HPC Applications
HPC systems provide maximum computational power and efficiency, offering the highest bandwidth and processing for the most complex problems our nation faces. They’re able to develop simulations and applications running across thousands or more processors simultaneously.
With AI, HPC systems can be utilized better and more efficiently, enabling their computations to be delivered faster and increasing the system’s overall capacity.
AI-assisted workflows are enabling developers to write better HPC code, which can help everyone from a novice to an expert build smarter, more efficient processes. This matters for tasks that are highly specialized and require building your own simulations or changing how an existing simulation works.
HPC Speeds Powerful AI Models
HPC is changing AI by powering the training of much larger and more powerful AI models. Meta, Tesla and others are building their own HPC-enabled AI factories so that they can create and train better, more specialized AI models and put them into the hands of their teams.
The DoW is already using HPC and AI to develop and execute complex simulations, simulate and predict fluid flows for military platforms, and to enhance modeling and risk analysis projects.
Another example is computer vision, where computers interpret images as humans do, and where complex and high-throughput analysis - such as with satellite imagery for intelligence gathering – is made infinitely better with an HPC system. GDIT has made significant investments in incorporating AI/ML into computer vision applications and specifically have applied this at the intersection of HPC solutions including on our Convergence Project that supports active operations and battlefield awareness.
Additionally, the expansion of emerging large language models and 3D machine learning models require significant memory. By using software to fuse many devices over high-speed connections, memory can be shared, providing a more practical and efficient way to train AI models.
How to Support HPC-enabled AI Mission Applications
HPC-enabled AI missions across the federal government, including those within the DoW, need implementation teams to train AI models to be better, more precise and specialized. These teams leverage AI to make HPC systems more available and accessible to different classes of users, streamline throughput and make the most efficient use of high-powered and expensive compute resources.
Importantly, teams must consider security and how to ensure the right resources and authorities to operate (ATO) are in place. They must consider the skillsets they���ll need – not only across HPC and AI but across data management and storage, data fabrics and cybersecurity. Another essential consideration is infrastructure – everything from cooling to the cloud to training your people.
Together, AI and HPC are transforming mission delivery, enhancing analytic capacity, and expanding the capabilities of teams and individual contributors alike. GDIT has helped customers examine their HPC and AI capabilities and aspirations, and to envision the art of the possible within both.
