A Shock to the System: AI's Thunderous Power Thirst
I don't know about you but I was surprised at the amount of energy AI uses.
I some cases, they can use the same amount of energy as a small country. I don't think that really resonated with me because on my end all I am doing is entering a prompt in the case of ChatGPT.
Lauren Leffer writes in Scientific American
Every online interaction relies on a scaffolding of information stored in remote servers—and those machines, stacked together in data centers worldwide, require a lot of energy. Around the globe, data centers currently account for about 1 to 1.5 percent of global electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency. And the world’s still-exploding boom in artificial intelligence could drive that number up a lot—and fast.
I think we need to educate folks on just how much energy AI uses. Not sure what the best and most meaningful way to do that is but maybe, like Audible have a page that let you know how much energy was used per prompt on a day, month, or year.
The energy usage is expected to grow and managing should be a priority.