HN reacts to a New Yorker piece on the “obscene energy demands of AI” with exactly the same arguments coiners use when confronted with the energy cost of blockchain - the product is valuable in of itself, demands for more energy will spur investment in energy generation, and what about the energy costs of painting oil on canvas, hmmmmmm???

Maybe it’s just my newness antennae needing calibrating, but I do feel the extreme energy requirements for what’s arguably just a frivolous toy is gonna cause AI boosters big problems, especially as energy demands ramp up in the US in the warmer months. Expect the narrative to adjust to counter it.

  • RobotToaster
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    8 months ago

    Your “frivolous toy” argument interested me, apparently video games use 34 TWh a year

    If the random dude on HN is to be believed chatGPT uses 182M kWh or 0.182TWh a year.

    Not sure what to make of that.