Preface: The Dawn of Analog Intelligence

For decades, digital computing has driven humanity’s technological advancements, enabling everything from modern AI to global connectivity. The exponential growth of digital processing power followed a predictable trajectory—faster processors, larger datasets, and more sophisticated algorithms. At its peak, the AI revolution promised boundless intelligence, capable of reshaping industries, governance, and even human creativity. However, amidst this rapid expansion, a fundamental flaw emerged: digital systems, by their very nature, struggle with the real world’s continuous and dynamic complexity.

The turning point came as AI models demanded exponentially more energy, data, and infrastructure. The race for the most powerful digital AI became unsustainable, requiring vast resources yet still failing to replicate human cognition’s intuitive adaptability. The AI hype cycle reached its zenith, and with it, the realization that intelligence could not be forced into rigid, binary pathways.

Enter the rebirth of analog computing—an idea long overshadowed by digital supremacy but inherently more aligned with nature’s continuous processes. Unlike their digital counterparts, analog systems operate fluidly, processing information in a way that mirrors biological and physical reality. Memristors, LC circuits, and dynamic oscillatory networks paved the way for computation that did not merely simulate intelligence but embodied it.

The transition from digital to analog did not happen overnight. It was driven by necessity—the limitations of energy-hungry AI models and the fundamental inefficiencies of binary logic in capturing the world’s infinite subtleties. As engineers sought alternatives, they rediscovered that nature itself is analog. Every movement, every thought, and every interaction flows in gradients, not discrete steps. The resurgence of analog computing marked the beginning of true artificial intelligence—machines that could learn, adapt, and operate in harmony with the complexities of reality.

This magazine explores the revolution of analog computing, from its foundations in memristors and biological inspiration to its practical implementations in real-world systems. As we step into this new frontier, one truth becomes clear: the future of intelligence is not digital. It is continuous, dynamic, and undeniably analog.