AI Could Rescue The Environment

For over a year, a theory has circulated that AI will consume electricity at an alarming rate. AI data centers might take 50% of the electricity generated in the US a decade from now. Renewables may not be sufficient to meet the demand. Energy companies may need to reconsider their reliance on fossil fuels. There is another theory that AI will be so “smart” that it will solve its energy problems

Scientific American reports that AI will help the energy shortage, or at least its effect on the green world. The article which discussed it was titled “AI Could Be Harnessed to Cut More Emissions Than It Creates.” The thinking behind the analysis is that “Artificial intelligence could cut global climate pollution by up to 5.4 billion metric tons a year over the next decade if it’s harnessed in ways that would improve transportation, energy and food production.” In other words, AI won’t solve the AI energy problem. It will solve other green issues instead.

Meat And Milk

An example is that AI may produce protein that allows food to be protein-rich, rather than relying on meat and dairy, which are major polluters. Therefore, it helps reduce the pace of global warming.

These theories are no more than theories. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said recently that AI server farms would eat 99% of the US electricity supply. That is impossible to imagine. Electricity use was fairly flat for three decades. The use of air conditioning and AI has put those years behind us.

More from ClimateCrisis 247

• Trump AI Move Could Be Coal Comeback
• AI Data Centers Face Unexpected Risk
• Nvidia Works To Help AI’s Greatest Trouble
• Three Mile Island 1979 Meltdown Crippled US Nuclear For 50 Years