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Technology@lemmy.worldbybeep@piefed.world
13 days

How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use? /// Less than 2% of global electricity, but demand is very geographically concentrated.

ourworldindata.org English

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1274370/how-much-energy-do-data-centers-and-artificial-intelligence-use-less-than-2-of-global-el

14
    How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use?
    ourworldindata.org
    Data centers consume around 1.5% of global electricity, but demand is very geographically concentrated.
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    • Gamechanger@slrpnk.netEnglish
      12 days

      Less than 2% is somewhat a shitty framing.

      I would say: “More than 1%!”

        • Zagorath@quokk.auEnglish
          12 days

          Yeah that’s an insane amount. Nearly 1 in every 50 joules generated is currently going to generative AI. That’s incredible for a single purpose.

            • FireRetardant@lemmy.worldEnglish
              12 days

              Not entirely true. Those are the numbers for all data centers, regardless if AI was used. This includes email, streaming services, and nearly everything you do on the internet. As per the linked article, the estimate for specifically AI use is closer to 0.5% or 1 of every 200 joules

              I estimate that AI consumed around 0.5% of the world’s electricity in 2025.

                • DampSquid@feddit.ukEnglish
                  12 days

                  So a QUARTER of ALL power used by ALL data centres is for fucking AI! That’s still crazy.

                    • XLE@piefed.socialEnglish
                      12 days

                      Especially when it’s the majority of all data center buildout (if these companies had their way, the amount would be higher), the GPUs inside them presently can’t be repurposed if demand doesn’t catch up (or if they just depreciate), and nobody knows how to make these profitable

                      • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
                        12 days

                        More than a quarter.

                • Rothe@piefed.socialEnglish
                  12 days

                  It is pretty insane to use 2% of global energy for that piece of shit technology, almost exclusive developed only to give more billions to billionaires and nothing else, at a time when we desperately need to minimise energy consumption.

                  • black0ut@pawb.socialEnglish
                    12 days

                    Last I read, the entire internet used less than 2% of the electricity we generate. Using the same amount of energy just for a spicy autocorrect is insane.

                    • thedevbo@feddit.onlineEnglish
                      12 days

                      I wonder what percent of people use AI. Because I think it would show just how crazy high that power usage is.

                      • Sims@lemmy.mlEnglish
                        12 days

                        Hm, isn’t the problem that a strained energy grid suddenly adds a lot of demand, also makes the prices skyrocket for ordinary poor people ? Its like they switch focus away from something.

                        Also, using global electricity statistics that includes Chinas gigantic energy budget, for a Western problem as the one above, seems biased af. The whole article smells a bit like paid content - propaganda - to me.

                        • Doomsider@lemmy.worldEnglish
                          11 days

                          “In states such as Virginia, it’s more than one-quarter.”

                          WTF

                          • Kairos@lemmy.todayEnglish
                            12 days

                            So, more than a %?

                            • AllYourSmurf@lemmy.worldEnglish
                              12 days

                              So using a more distributed Internet (instead of sticking all out services in data centers) would help balance that.

                                • _stranger_@lemmy.worldEnglish
                                  12 days

                                  that’s just making more, smaller data centers. The data centers themselves are probably more efficient than an equivalent amount of compute that’s spread out elsewhere, just because the cooling systems for data centers generally benefit from being huge.

                                  The problem is that we keep building more data centers for stupid shit.

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