Whether a data centre is a "good" or "bad" thing ultimately depends on the value of the services it provides to society vs the environmental damage it leads to. Reducing the environmental damage is one thing, but as David says here, efficiencies are likely to translate into increased demand. The question is - increased demand for what? AI can be used for valuable things e.g. medical research etc. The problem is that the vast majority of AI will actually be used for the same thing most of the rest of the internet has evolved into - the advertising industry and the political manipulation industry. The more energy AI-driven advertising, algorithms and manipulation get, the more energy they will use, and the environmental impact, of the energy use, of the building of the data centres, and of the unneccessary mass consumption, air frieght of fast consumer goods etc, which is driven by the advertising, will be disregarded, as it has been to date. Unless we can have a radically different way of permitting and providing energy to data centres which involves transparency to society about the real value they are providing in society - what exactly those servers in those corridors are doing, for whom and for what. Society needs transparency on this so that society can make informed decisions about what deserves energy and what doesn't.
Perhaps before worrying about the increased in electricity demand from AI data centers, we should first look at the business model of Open AI and the rest of them. We need to understand how these companies are going to make a profit with these astronomical investments. So far this is not being explained by the AI companies and all we have is smoke and mirrors.
Whether a data centre is a "good" or "bad" thing ultimately depends on the value of the services it provides to society vs the environmental damage it leads to. Reducing the environmental damage is one thing, but as David says here, efficiencies are likely to translate into increased demand. The question is - increased demand for what? AI can be used for valuable things e.g. medical research etc. The problem is that the vast majority of AI will actually be used for the same thing most of the rest of the internet has evolved into - the advertising industry and the political manipulation industry. The more energy AI-driven advertising, algorithms and manipulation get, the more energy they will use, and the environmental impact, of the energy use, of the building of the data centres, and of the unneccessary mass consumption, air frieght of fast consumer goods etc, which is driven by the advertising, will be disregarded, as it has been to date. Unless we can have a radically different way of permitting and providing energy to data centres which involves transparency to society about the real value they are providing in society - what exactly those servers in those corridors are doing, for whom and for what. Society needs transparency on this so that society can make informed decisions about what deserves energy and what doesn't.
Perhaps before worrying about the increased in electricity demand from AI data centers, we should first look at the business model of Open AI and the rest of them. We need to understand how these companies are going to make a profit with these astronomical investments. So far this is not being explained by the AI companies and all we have is smoke and mirrors.