UN Chief Expresses Global Anxiety About AI Future
António Guterres, the head of the UN, said he was optimistic about the role AI would play in the future of humanity. He also expressed significant concerns about whether renewable development could keep up with electricity needs. Deep down, anyone who has studied the adoption curve of renewables knows that there is no choice they can fill in for fossil fuels as AI needs grow.
“AI can boost efficiency, innovation, and resilience in energy systems, but it is also energy hungry,” he said. He has to be acutely aware of the energy needs of OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. Add to these several other slightly smaller AI companies that plan to build server farms, which, in sum, will cost billions of dollars.
Data Center Electric
Semafor points out that there may be a partial alternative. “But with data-center consumption expected to double by 2030 to 945 terawatt-hours, the cheapest and most plentiful source is natural gas.”
In the US, the Trump Administration has severely undermined the development of solar and wind energy, potentially shrinking their footprints due to a lack of investment. Nuclear power may come online, but that will require years of consultation and approvals.
The UN will not get what it wants.
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