What is the future of AI?

Sam Altman says the future of AI depends on breakthroughs in clean energy. The OpenAI CEO said during an event in Davos this week that “We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology,” which is expected to consume an enormous amount of electricity as it matures. “There’s no way to get there without a breakthrough.

Does AI use a lot of energy?

Using AI for certain tasks can come with a significant energy price tag. With some powerful AI models, generating an image can require as much energy as charging up your phone, as my colleague Melissa Heikkilä explained in a story from December.

Can AI clean up the grid?

But if we use rising electricity demand as a catalyst to lean harder into renewable energy and other low-carbon power sources, and push AI to get more efficient, doing more with less energy, then we can continue to slowly clean up the grid, even as AI continues to expand its reach in our lives.

How will AI technology impact our electricity grid?

These technologies offer significant economic benefits to AI data centers in the form of increased access to power and reduced latency, and they will enable the rapid expansion of our 20th-century electricity grid to serve 21st-century needs.

Can AI improve maintenance of renewable power-generation sites?

Companies are turning to AI to improve maintenance of renewable power-generation sites. For example, reality capture platform DroneDeploy is using AI to evaluate solar farm layouts, maximize energy generated per site and automatically monitor the health of solar panels and other equipment in the field.

Should we be worried about AI's electricity demands?

You may have seen the headlines proclaiming that AI uses as much electricity as small countries, that it’ll usher in a fossil-fuel resurgence, and that it’s already challenging the grid. So how worried should we be about AI’s electricity demands? Well, it’s complicated. Using AI for certain tasks can come with a significant energy price tag.