It’s only as environmentally destructive as the environment in which it operates, if you train your AI in France using Nuclear power it is effectively carbon free training is it not? The biggest limitation on the carbon use of AI appears to be entirely limited to how fast or slow the USA transitions to renewable energy.
Distracting hypothetical - ie a red herring. The question is not is it conceivable to build AI in a way that isn’t inherently environmentally destructive. It isn’t being done. Not at scale, nor is there any plans to do so. There’s no intention to reduce reliance on fossil fuels powering datacenters. There isn’t even a suggestion of intention to give lip-service to the problem so fantasizing about it serves no purpose.
enrich themselves? I thought AI was a massive money losing adventure bubble that was about to pop?
These are not mutually exclusive. The golden parachute problem still exists.
enslave humanity? I thought AI was slop not worth of even being used because apparently all it does is hallucinate answers?
That it is worthless doesn’t make it not psychologically destructive. People want things that destroy their lives all the time. Drugs, gambling, AI sex bots, etc. We’ve known for a very long time there’s ways to hijack people’s behaviour and make them behave in ways that violate their values and good sense. The fact that AI slop directly engages in hacking our brains, and filling our heads with junk data and hallucinations is not internally inconsistent.
In Europe renewables and nuclear are set to supply most of the additional electricity required, with their combined share rising to 85% by 2030. Japan and Korea together account for about 5% of global data centre electricity demand today, a share they are expected to retain to 2030. Renewables and nuclear are set to provide nearly 60% of the electricity consumed by data centres in 2030, up from 35% today. The rest of the world is responsible for about 10% of total data centre electricity generation, with Southeast Asia and India accounting for a significant portion of that. In both regions, coal remains a key pillar of the data centre electricity supply, but renewables are projected to eclipse it by 2035.
It’s simple economics, renewables are the cheapest form of electricity so they want it, America != the world
The fact that AI slop directly engages in hacking our brains, and filling our heads with junk data and hallucinations is not internally inconsistent.
But how does being fed useful information, coding for us, providing interesting stories, a caring AI boyfriend or girlfriend lead us to enslavement? This is like suggesting we’re slaves to McDonalds, it’s feels less like slavery and more like hyperbole, especially with the existence of open source models…
There isn’t even a suggestion of intention to give lip-service to the problem so fantasizing about it serves no purpose
Speaking of open source models, happy release day of mistral medium!
Today, as AI becomes increasingly integrated into every layer of our economy, it is crucial for developers, policymakers, enterprises, governments and citizens to better understand the environmental footprint of this transformative technology. At Mistral AI, we believe that we share a collective responsibility with each actor of the value chain to address and mitigate the environmental impacts of our innovations.
Misdirection. You’re comparing the equivalent of small local retailers with a multinational mega-corps the scale of Amazon. Such projects are a rounding error in the wider market.
But how does being fed useful information, coding for us, providing interesting stories, a caring AI boyfriend or girlfriend lead us to enslavement?
The “Usefulness” of this information is questionable at best, and wildly incorrect all too often. “Coding for us” is a double edged sword in that it makes an appealing shortcut, while also leaving us at extreme risk when it makes what is all too often a critical mistake we don’t understand, a problem which will only get worse as we gradually forget how to code for ourselves. Also, it’s not a “Caring AI Boyfriend” its a simulacrum of human interaction that does not care about anyone or anything. It’s a Lovecraftian horror dressed up as a relationship. A perversion that treats humanity as a disease to be treated into remission.
Misdirection. You’re comparing the equivalent of small local retailers with a multinational mega-corps the scale of Amazon. Such projects are a rounding error in the wider market.
What percentage of data centres are in America vs the rest of the world?
Distracting hypothetical - ie a red herring. The question is not is it conceivable to build AI in a way that isn’t inherently environmentally destructive. It isn’t being done. Not at scale, nor is there any plans to do so. There’s no intention to reduce reliance on fossil fuels powering datacenters. There isn’t even a suggestion of intention to give lip-service to the problem so fantasizing about it serves no purpose.
These are not mutually exclusive. The golden parachute problem still exists.
That it is worthless doesn’t make it not psychologically destructive. People want things that destroy their lives all the time. Drugs, gambling, AI sex bots, etc. We’ve known for a very long time there’s ways to hijack people’s behaviour and make them behave in ways that violate their values and good sense. The fact that AI slop directly engages in hacking our brains, and filling our heads with junk data and hallucinations is not internally inconsistent.
There is here in Australia
https://reneweconomy.com.au/byo-renewables-new-national-principles-set-bar-for-data-centre-energy-and-water-use/
There is in Europe:
https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/energy-supply-for-ai
It’s simple economics, renewables are the cheapest form of electricity so they want it, America != the world
But how does being fed useful information, coding for us, providing interesting stories, a caring AI boyfriend or girlfriend lead us to enslavement? This is like suggesting we’re slaves to McDonalds, it’s feels less like slavery and more like hyperbole, especially with the existence of open source models…
Speaking of open source models, happy release day of mistral medium!
https://huggingface.co/mistralai/Mistral-Medium-3.5-128B
It’s from Mistral a french company!
https://mistral.ai/news/our-contribution-to-a-global-environmental-standard-for-ai
Maybe there is a suggestion ?
Misdirection. You’re comparing the equivalent of small local retailers with a multinational mega-corps the scale of Amazon. Such projects are a rounding error in the wider market.
The “Usefulness” of this information is questionable at best, and wildly incorrect all too often. “Coding for us” is a double edged sword in that it makes an appealing shortcut, while also leaving us at extreme risk when it makes what is all too often a critical mistake we don’t understand, a problem which will only get worse as we gradually forget how to code for ourselves. Also, it’s not a “Caring AI Boyfriend” its a simulacrum of human interaction that does not care about anyone or anything. It’s a Lovecraftian horror dressed up as a relationship. A perversion that treats humanity as a disease to be treated into remission.
What percentage of data centres are in America vs the rest of the world?