Generative AI has serious costs – it’s time to be useful

Every time we exploit a large language model we chew through a chunk of power, so now the suppliers need to prove they’re worth it

Nicole Kobie is PC Pro’s Futures editor. She would be very happy if ChatGPT could help reduce her energy bill. And her mortgage, while y’all are at it. @njkobie Generative AI is energy hungry. Training the ever-growing models requires more data centres – and more powerful ones at that. That means the AI arms race could have serious repercussions. Google has admitted that its emissions have climbed 48% over the past five years, pinning the blame on electricity consumption from data centres as well as its wider supply chain. As a result, its AI investments made it difficult to predict when it would reach net zero. Microsoft president Brad Smith now says the company’s own carbon-negative “moonshot” is unlikely to be reached any time soon, as “the moon has moved” because of AI.…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

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