RENEWABLES BIGGEST OBSTACLE, AI AND TRANSMISSION.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies possess enormous potential to revolutionize people’s lives and society. These technologies can aid in scientific advancements and enable inclusive economic growth. Yet, AI poses risks that could affect the planet, the environment, society, communities, organizations, groups, and individuals. The AI boom has sparked a race to innovate, with companies pushing the boundaries of the technology to build more complex models that require significant computing power. But this relentless pursuit of progress comes at a huge cost: a surge in energy consumption fuelled by data centres struggling to keep pace. Training large-scale AI systems is extremely power-intensive. When looking at generative AI as an example, systems can consume 33 times more energy than machines running task-specific software. For instance, training ChatGPT-3 consumed an estimated 1.287 GWh of electricity alone – resulting in significant carbon emissions. With governments creating delays with planning permissions for energy transmission infrastructure and giving data storage preference over housing society problems will increase.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *