"We did it, Patrick! We made a technological breakthrough!"
A place for all those who loathe AI to discuss things, post articles, and ridicule the AI hype. Proud supporter of working people. And proud booer of SXSW 2024.
AI, in this case, refers to LLMs, GPT technology, and anything listed as "AI" meant to increase market valuations.
Do we actually know where the money for all this is coming from? The hardware and power bills alone should look like a huge black hole for any company doing this. Completely unsustainable, and yet Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple all continue to function without issues.
The revenue generated is tiny, so where is the money coming from?
Duh, the datacenter holding company is funded by openAI, which is funded by nvidia, who makes their money selling chips to the datacenter holding company, who then rents out their equipment to openAI, who gets funding from nvidia. So basically Enron 2.0
Some companies like Microsoft have started buying old closed down nuclear power plants like Three Mile Island in order to use them to power their AI, so hopefully it can offset a large portion of the energy demand.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5120581/three-mile-island-nuclear-power-plant-microsoft-ai
if the nuclear plant is actually reopened, it's still be a huge waste. Because we really need that energy elsewhere rn
Microsoft isn't the sort of company I would want to run a nuclear power plant. That's a huge responsibility
Great, just what the world needed: bigtech buying (scarce, non-renewable) uranium and selling the resulting plutonium to the highest bidder.
These nuclear plants were closed for a reason. It was determined that they were unsustainable and required major maintenance and reconstruction.
If Tech Companies (who have no experience in running Nuclear power plants) start recommissioning them, and don’t properly maintain them, it is going to get very disastrous, very quickly.
Microsoft isnt just reactivating old nuclear power plants.
They are building what could very well be the first functional commercial fusion power plant
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/world-first-fusion-power-plant-helion
It would be nice if that nuclear power was used to power cities instead of AI trash.
I voiced this concern elsewhere recentley, it terrifies me to think of how much energy, bandwidth, computing power, and storage all goes into what is essentially, frivilous, pointless, lazy, stupid bullshit when it comes to AI and what people actually use it for.
I mean, I am as anti-AI as any rational human being.
but when you start describing digital things as frivilous, pointless, lazy and stupid bullshit.. That kinda describes about 98% of technology and internet usage.
That's just fucked up.
But heaven forbid you use a PC power supply that's not 80+ efficient!
AI has basically obliterated 30 years of energy efficiency gains.