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Asked by raya519taro to zahrasaribal, Sophia, Letizia Protopapa, Jo, Jack McKinlay, iranroman, Henry D, bhaktishah on 8 May 2025.
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Iran Roman answered on 8 May 2025: last edited 8 May 2025 09:24
It depends! When I’m doing the really heavy stuff (like training big AI models) I use something called a ‘high-performance computer’ (HPC for short). These are super powerful computers that live in special rooms (I don’t even know where!) and I connect to them through the internet. But for everyday things like testing out ideas, writing code, joining video calls, or just browsing the web, I love using Apple laptops (MacBooks). Fun fact: I used to work at Apple, so maybe I’m a little biased 😄
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Jack McKinlay answered on 13 May 2025:
For my work, which is mostly theoretical, I don’t really need anything very powerful. As long as I can get onto the internet and use a word processor, I can do work most of the time. That said, there are plenty of AI scientists who need massively powerful systems that I’d never be able to afford on my own. So it really depends what sort of computer science research you’re done.
Personally, I’m happy with a nice Linux laptop, as they’re convenient, a lot friendlier to code with, and have far fewer annoying popups.
Comments
MarcusDavage commented on :
My favourite computer is the IBM Z17 mainframe.
https://www.ibm.com/products/z17
It starts from around 1 million dollars, so you’d probably have to work for a bank/airline or another big company to use one.
Failing that, a cheap lappy with Linux on it.
aureliabrzezowska commented on :
For cyber, anything that can host a Linux OS is quite useful! I have a preference to building my own PCs so usually favour higher specs. A lot of offices nowadays stick to prebuilt multi-purpose PCs such as from HP or Dell as this gives them warranties on them. It is quite important for major companies as it means they can quickly get them fixed if something goes wrong!