I voiced this concern elsewhere recentley, it terrifies me to think of how much energy, bandwidth, computing power, and storage all goes into what is essentially, frivilous, pointless, lazy, stupid bullshit when it comes to AI and what people actually use it for.
My AI girlfriend is not bullshit good sir.
Some companies like Microsoft have started buying old closed down nuclear power plants like Three Mile Island in order to use them to power their AI, so hopefully it can offset a large portion of the energy demand.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5120581/three-mile-island-nuclear-power-plant-microsoft-ai
if the nuclear plant is actually reopened, it’s still be a huge waste. Because we really need that energy elsewhere rn
Do we actually know where the money for all this is coming from? The hardware and power bills alone should look like a huge black hole for any company doing this. Completely unsustainable, and yet Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple all continue to function without issues.
The revenue generated is tiny, so where is the money coming from?
From the real economy. It will be syphoned off, until the circular card house of imaginary money flows is going to collapse under the weight of reality.
But heaven forbid you use a PC power supply that’s not 80+ efficient!
AI has basically obliterated 30 years of energy efficiency gains.
