von Neumann machine
1
6.6
- noun
- /vɒn ˈnɔɪmən məˈʃin/
- Specialized
- A von Neumann machine is a digital computer that follows the architecture proposed by John von Neumann, allowing it to execute stored programs efficiently.
Examples
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The efficiency of a von Neumann machine lies in its capability to process instructions serially while using stored programs.
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Dear Elliot, I was asking about the von Neumann machines' goals because that would probably influence their 'visibility' to us.
Blog text (14) -
Exploratory von Neumann machines would have no cause to call attention to themselves because they are just out exploring after all.
Blog text (14) -
The so-called von Neumann machine is able to reproduce better versions of itself.
Academic text (2003) -
However, colonizing von Neumann machines would consume space resources at prodigious rates, so I think it would be hard to miss them.
Blog text (14) -
Now if your von Neumann machine's purpose was simply to replicate, then it's possible that their programming dictated them to replicate exactly as it exists in the universe, so then how would we know they are there?
Blog text (14) -
Researchers are developing von Neumann machines that can automatically improve their own programming through self-replication.
Synonyms
1
2.4
A machine that uses electricity to work with information and do calculations by itself
How Complex
- Specialized
22
5.5
- Specialized
56
5.3
- Specialized
1
6.6
- Specialized
2
4.7
73
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
von + Neumann + machine
Although 'machine' is transparent and signals a device, 'von Neumann' is an eponymic proper name and the phrase refers to a specific stored‑program computer architecture and historical concept that cannot be derived from the constituent words. A B1 learner who knows 'machine' and recognizes the name would at best guess it is a type of device but would not be able to infer the technical meaning, so the expression is not compositionally transparent.
Etymology
Von Neumann machine is named after the scientist von Neumann, who in the 1940s suggested a design where one memory holds both 'instructions' and data. This image of one box keeping the rules and the information helps explain why the phrase now means a computer with 'stored programs' and step-by-step processing.