I recently clocked a reference to an AI model zoo of all things. This was a collection of various pre-trained neural network models, ready to be run on a particular bit of hardware.
Zoo
The story was about the Hailo-based Raspberry Pi AI Kit, comprising the Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ preassembled with a Hailo-8L AI accelerator module.
But a zoo? I guess if they come in various shapes and sizes, then why not? And it is certainly a thing. As well as Hailo – a maker of AI accelerator chips – STMicroelectronics and AMD also use the term.
So, okay, a zoo is basically a collection of trained machine learning models. But this provoked the thought: what other tech collective nouns are out there (or should be out there)?
Collective nouns
One website talked, very soberly, about, an array, suite, collection or cluster of gadgets. There was also mention of a cog of robots, but I suspect that rather outdated (and mechanical focused). The modern term would be fleet of robots, surely.
There’s also a farm of data servers of course. And people talk about a cluster of computers.
Another website, having more fun, pondered the group noun for a collection of broadband engineers: a buffering of Openreach engineers, or an entanglement, or – and I like this – a telecommunion.
And Reddit also provided many suggestions in a list of techies. Its list included these crackers:
- a neckbeard of backend developers
- a subtlety of front-end developers
- a squint of database administrators
Gallagher
As for my own ideas – attempts to coin a new noun – the only rather weak things I could come up with were a collective noun for USB dongles (a pick-and-mix) and a name for the cables behind the telly (an entanglement, again).
Asking among the editorial team – entering into the Electronics Weekly hive mind – our editor, Caroline Hayes, suggested a couple. How about, a scrum of transistors or a ruckus of cables?
She also came up with – the Oasis reunion concerts obviously in mind – a Gallagher of audio engineers!
And our Technology editor, Steve Bush, suggests a mystery of EMC engineers, and a shock of high-voltage engineers!
Of course, the grammariantologists would remind us that a collective noun is more than a simple plural but also a commonality of purpose.
But anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you have any suggestions? Feel free to share them via the Comments box below.
A bakery
For example, we started with a Raspberry Pi-based example, so what is your preferred term for multiple Pi boards? A bakery. No?
I’m sure there’s better than that. Many of us have more than one Raspberry Pi now but how do you refer to yours collectively?!
