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Generative AI is reportedly tripling carbon dioxide emissions from data centers

A report from Morgan Stanley suggests the datacenter industry is on track to emit 2.5 billion tons by 2030, which is three times higher than the predictions if generative AI had not come into play.

The extra demand from GenAI will reportedly lead to a rise in emissions from 200 million tons this year to 600 million tons by 2030, thanks largely to the construction of more data centers to keep up with the demand for cloud services.

taiyang ,

When I think “AI will end humanity” I was thinking a sort of Skynet type deal, not… this. Sigh.

blazera ,
@blazera@lemmy.world avatar

I doubt the data centers are generating much of any co2. Fossil fuel power plants are.

sunzu2 ,

then why are data centers using these fossil fuel power plants?

why are they getting lower rates to use them than an individual taxpayer?

kersplomp ,

God damnit not this swill again. It’s not even close to triple, it’s like 15%. Read. The. Reports.

For real. Why does this misinformation keep spreading? I have the actual real numbers right in front of me now.

And it’s the same as what MIT Technology Review reported and what Google reported publicly.

The EU’s CSRD requires most of these companies to disclose their carbon emissions. So just go look it up, ya taints.

CliveRosfield ,

Something something AI BAD, didn’t read.

krashmo , (edited )

I build the infrastructure that these data centers need to connect to the internet. Our projected power consumption is at least tripling from last year which was itself double the year before, and that’s only the power draw for the fiber optic infrastructure connecting these data centers together. They’re also building a ridiculous amount of computing power in those data centers which is another massive increase in power consumption.

There are some kind-of green efforts in progress to mitigate a bit of the environmental impacts of that increase in demand but most of what I have seen personally is just more draw from the local utility company. I have serious doubts about any data that indicates that tripling power consumption is not a major environmental problem.

kersplomp ,

If you’re the one working on this infrastructure, then why are the reports saying that it’s only 13%? Are you guys lying on the forms?

krashmo ,

I have no idea where that data comes from and that’s exactly the point I’m making. It doesn’t match my personal experience at all.

isVeryLoud ,

Could you cite the reports for us?

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

You are not thinking cumulatively.

It’s not even close to triple, it’s like 15%.

1.15^7=2.66

From the article

“emit 2.5 billion tons by 2030, which is three times higher than the predictions if generative AI had not come into play.”

delirious_owl ,
@delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

Uhh, soo many datacenters run off wind. So this is pretty disingenuous

zout ,

Tell me about it. In the Netherlands wind farms are built, and, on paper, these datacenter companies buy up all of the energy from them. Meanwhile, the reason why these wind farms were built is to burn less fossil fuels, but that won't work now because of all the extra energy consumption.

delirious_owl ,
@delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

You mean wind turbines.

This is a good thing. So wind turbine companies take that money and use it to build more wind turbines

zout ,

What you call a good thing, I call green washing.

melroy ,
@melroy@kbin.melroy.org avatar

And then people were complaining about cryptocurrencies.. Look at this AI joke.. Come on..

melroy , (edited )
@melroy@kbin.melroy.org avatar

ow nevermind, bitcoin mining alone is consuming 112.31 TWh annually (it's a guess). While AI is using 29.2 TWh annually (also a guess).

ReversalHatchery , (edited )

I can guess too! With my guess, AI is already using 420 TWh annually!

What if we wouldn’t guess anything like this? This is not just not meaningful, but straight out misleading.

melroy ,
@melroy@kbin.melroy.org avatar

Well.. the numbers were from Wired: https://wired.me/science/energy/ai-vs-bitcoin-mining-energy/

melroy ,
@melroy@kbin.melroy.org avatar

Only they called it "estimates"

jsomae , (edited )

U.S. vehicles currently emit 2 billion tons. So that’s very bad news.

However – I think 2030 is waaay too far in the future to predict anything about AI.

DarkCloud , (edited )

…and all so they can steal our collective content, creativity, and every piece of individual thought or content we’ve ever communicated online.

…with the aim of exploiting it to make billionaires richer.

delirious_owl ,
@delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

This is only relevant to closed source AI. Not all AI is closed

zout ,

Still, open source AI will still help the same companies getting richer because the needed computing power can be found in these data centers. The companies don't even care if it's AI, crypto or whatever the next thing is, as long as it needs lots of power and bandwidth.

delirious_owl ,
@delirious_owl@discuss.online avatar

I don’t care if our open source tools are used by rich people. That’s kinda the point. Everyone can use them.

MyOpinion ,

Looks like AI will eliminate any gains we have in climate change. Too bad for us.

technocrit ,

Gotta remember that AI is going to solve the climate crisis! \s

Rhaedas ,

Over time, it is. It's eliminating the source. In Terminator, Matrix, and others they say that the AI took a split second to act, but our AI doesn't have those connections. It's working with what it's got.

theshatterstone54 ,

It’s scary how our corporate overlords watch all the distopian films and are like: Let’s turn that into a reality!

queermunist ,
@queermunist@lemmy.ml avatar

Love to burn down an acre of rain forest to generate a picture of an ape.

sunzu2 ,

you wouldn't understand "progress"

avidamoeba ,
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca avatar

Anything but paying for the labor of a person to draw such a picture.

sunzu2 ,

slaver mentality 101

T00l_shed ,

Fuck this “AI” shit

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