we're f*cked

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Yo, here's the deal - everyone's hyped AF about AI making us more productive and pushing science forward, but there's some serious environmental shit we need to talk about with this AI gold rush.

Think about it - these massive AI models like GPT-4 are absolute power-hungry beasts. We're talking INSANE amounts of electricity, spewing CO2 everywhere and putting mad pressure on our power grids. And get this - it's not just about training these models.

When millions of people are using AI daily, that shit adds up.

The Water Problem

Here's something wild - these AI systems need tons of water just to stay cool. Like, we're literally draining local water supplies just to keep these computers from melting down. Environmental impact? Yeah, no shit.

Data Centers Are Going Crazy

• North America's data centers? Doubled their power usage in just one year (2,688 MW to 5,341 MW)

• Globally? These centers are eating up 460 terawatts. That's more electricity than Saudi Arabia uses, fam

• By 2026? They're gonna need 1,050 terawatts. That's between Japan and Russia level consumption

The Real Talk About Training These Models

Training something like GPT-3 is wild:

• Uses enough electricity to power 120 US homes for a year

• Dumps about 552 tons of CO2 into the air

• And here's the kicker - companies drop new models every few weeks, so all that energy? Basically wasted

Usage Stats That'll Blow Your Mind

• One ChatGPT query uses 5x more juice than a Google search

• For every kilowatt-hour these data centers eat up, they need 2 liters of water just for cooling

• GPU shipments to data centers jumped from 2.67M to 3.85M in one year

Bottom line? This shit's unsustainable AF. We're building these AI powerhouses faster than we can power them with clean energy. But hey, at least people are starting to wake up and look for better ways to do this.

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