one assessment suggests that ChatGPT, the chatbot created by OpenAI in San Francisco, California, is already consuming the energy of 33,000 homes. It’s estimated that a search driven by generative AI uses four to five times the energy of a conventional web search. Within years, large AI systems are likely to need as much energy as entire nations.
Bitcoin was wasteful with little benefit, but AI has the potential to benefit humanity at large. Maybe ChatGPT itself isn’t a great example of that, but their research has gone on to spur lots of advancements in AI, advancement that have allowed AI to make all sorts of breakthroughs areas like medicine
Been hearing this claim for well over 30 years.
Yeah, but LLMs like ChatGPT and the like aren’t where that advancement is being made. LLMs are driving investment in the technology, but it’s just a mostly useless investor target that just happens to run on the same hardware that can be used for useful AI-powered research. Sure, it’s pushing the hardware advancement forward maybe 10-15 years faster than it might have otherwise happened, but it’s coming with a lot of wasteful baggage as well because LLMs are the golden boy investors want to to throw money at.
True the benefit actually exists here (how much is open for debate)
On the other hand, we should be doing full alarm bells and running around in a panic ramping down every use of energy possible before we leave our 100 surviving progeny a lifeless rock to live on. But humans don’t work that way. By the time we are all on board it will be 100 years too late, unfortunately.