Sunday, June 23, 2024

Feeding AI


Hamas doesn’t want a deal, except one where Israel just gives up.
And if Blinken doesn’t know that, then he’s not getting the basic info he should, not from US intelligence nor even from whoever’s in charge of getting him essential press clippings.--NY Post

***

The Philippines is a treaty-status nation, like NATO, that has an ongoing conflict with China, which absurdly has made claims for the entire China Sea--about half the size of the continental U.S. So we are involved and must have policies for those potential interactions.

And, while we are on the topic, what would we do if Vietnam applied for a similar status? Indonesia?

***


Feeding AI


Swimming against the stream is specialized work, particularly when the stream is progress.

AI is more than the next interesting computer step, it is the next step in the vital technological and economic dominance the U.S. has developed and maintained over the last generation. And with this research and economic success comes the inevitable camp-follower, military success. No culture can allow that to happen, even one as leadership-dim as America's,

So everything will go into AI. Entrepreneurs. Financiers. Government. Military. Everyone will pull out all the stops to advance the technology. And, as so often is the case, this will entail significant unanticipated ripples.

AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT require billions, and sometimes trillions, of information to train these models, which are housed in massive data centers that use electricity for cooling and processing power. But new predictions and forecasts suggest increasing demand for ever-more-powerful AI models could stretch current energy supplies further than was once thought. In the US alone, according to a new report released by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) data centers tasked with powering advanced AI models could account for up to 9.1% of the country’s overall energy demand by the end of the decade. 9.1% of the total. Much of that new demand may be met by non-renewable natural gas, which could complicate global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

By 2030, the report notes, data center energy requirements could account for anywhere between 4.6% and 9.1% of total US electricity generated by 2030. That’s compared to 4% today. The newfound demand isn’t limited to the US either. By 2026, The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates data center energy demand globally could double by 2026.

That's a lot of paper straws.

Power-hungry data centers threaten to place real strains on energy grids in coming years. As of 2024, according to the Goldman Sachs forecast, data centers account for between 1-2% of global power demand. That figure is expected to increase to 3-4% by the end of the decade. In the US, which maintains roughly half of the world’s data centers, these facilities are expected to account for 8% of the nation’s overall energy drain by 2030. Energy providers are already rushing to bring new power plants online to ensure those brewing energy demands are met. The Goldman Sachs forestate estimates more than half (60%) of energy used to meet those demands will come from nonrenewable resources. That forecast reinforces previous reports which suggest renewable resources alone might be insufficient to meet data centers’ energy needs.

AI must be seen for what it is, essential for the next step in a crucial technology. It cannot--and will not--be cut back or muted. Our world--and its erroneous estimates--will have to adapt. And that process will not include decreasing energy sources.

1 comment:

Custer said...

James you could have attended the Democratic convention with me,why worry about Hamas when you could have been president of the United States?