Back-of-envelope: machine $/FLOP just dropped below the human brain after 70 years
scychan_brains · x · 2026-11-02
A rough estimate suggests that, adjusted to 2026 dollars, machines have just become cheaper than humans on $/FLOP — for the first time in 70 years. Using $10/hr global average wage and the human brain's 1e15 FLOP/s (plausible range 1e13–1e17), human cost lands around 3e-18 $/FLOP; subsistence-only cost is far lower. The author stresses the analysis is purely about hardware prices, not AI, making it a striking coincidence that this cost crossover arrives just as we approach human-level AGI. Sensitivity checks (what fraction of brain FLOPs apply to a task) shift results by less than an order of magnitude.
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