# Why is Python, not Julia, still used for most state-of-the-art AI research?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-python-not-julia-still-used-for-most-state-of-the-art-ai-research/45896>\
**Category:** Offtopic\
**Tags:** knet, flux, machine-learning, mlj, sciml\
**Created:** [September 1, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-python-not-julia-still-used-for-most-state-of-the-art-ai-research/45896 "2020-09-01T13:49:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 27

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**Author:** ![ToucheSir](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/touchesir/32/14411_2.png) [@ToucheSir](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ToucheSir)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/why-is-python-not-julia-still-used-for-most-state-of-the-art-ai-research/45896/27 "2020-09-01T21:48:12Z")

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Nice finds!

> [@](#):
>
> FYI: I see multi-GPU done (while I guess not Distributed, then) in 2018, with Flux…

Yup, I think this is possible on current CUDA.jl as well. However, multi-gpu training of the same model (whether on the same machine or across machines) requires functionality that isn’t implemented anywhere in the Flux ecosystem yet.

> [@](#):
>
> Also interesting…

Seems like all of these benchmarks are prior to the Flux Zygote transition (I see lots of Tracker). Knet likely performs even better now (and should probably receive more love), but Tracker → Zygote was a noticeable performance regression for certain workflows. ref. [https://fluxml.ai/2020/06/29/acclerating-flux-torch.html](https://fluxml.ai/2020/06/29/acclerating-flux-torch.html), [Flux vs pytorch cpu performance - #15 by d1cker](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/flux-vs-pytorch-cpu-performance/42667/15), [Poor performance relative to PyTorch · Issue #886 · FluxML/Flux.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/FluxML/Flux.jl/issues/886).

For more holistic comparisons, see also  
[Is it a good time for a PyTorch developer to move to Julia? If so, Flux? Knet? - #18 by dfdx](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/is-it-a-good-time-for-a-pytorch-developer-to-move-to-julia-if-so-flux-knet/38453/18) and [https://discourse.julialang.org/t/where-does-julia-provide-the-biggest-benefits-over-other-ml-frameworks-for-research](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/where-does-julia-provide-the-biggest-benefits-over-other-ml-frameworks-for-research) (the latter was started by a PyTorch contributor).

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