The massive computer clusters powering artificial intelligence consume vast quantities to answer the world’s queries, but how is Big Tech redressing the balance?

Writing a 100-word email using ChatGPT (GPT-4, latest model) consumes 1 x 500ml bottle of water It uses 140Wh of energy, enough for 7 full charges of an iPhone Pro Max

  • XIIIesq@lemmy.worldEnglish
    417·
    3 days ago

    I think it’s fair to say that pretty much every industry is more efficient and cleaner than it used to be and I don’t see why AI would be an exception to that.

    • frayedpickles@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      101·
      3 days ago

      And why do you think those improvements happen?

      Is it (a) unchecked capitalism or (b) regulations?

      • areyouevenreal@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        Mainly because energy and data centers are both expensive and companies want to use as little as possible of both - especially on the energy side. OpenAI isn’t exactly profitable. There is a reason companies like Microsoft release smaller models like Phi-2 that can be run on individual devices rather than data centers.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        2 days ago

        Is the insinuation here that the AI industry is unregulated? Because I’m not against regulations that would drive these improvements.

    • pyre@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      3 days ago

      i think you’re not thinking about what efficiency means for corporations.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        3 days ago

        I think it’s exactly what I’m thinking about, unless I’m missing something specific that you’d like to put forward?

        If I own a bottled drinks company and the energy cost is 10p a bottle but a new, more efficient process is invented that would lower my energy cost to 5p a bottle, that’s going to be looking like a wise investment to make. A few pence over several thousand products adds up pretty quickly.

        I could either pocket the difference as extra profit, lower my unit price to the consumer to make my product more competitive in the market, or a bit of both.