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The Inquiry: Do we have enough energy to power AI?

Do we have enough energy to power AI?

27/06/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Do we have enough energy to power AI?

AI comes with a cost. Every time we give it a task, it uses electricity.

Artificial Intelligence is changing our world.  And it could mean an end to global warming and a future of abundance.  But everything we ask it to do uses power - electricity.

Artificial Intelligence is something that’s all around us in our daily lives. And even if we do use it, whether that’s to search for a recipe online, make a funny photo, or ask it to help with our homework, every task that AI does uses power. That power is electricity.  

Around the world there are thousands of data centres hosting computers that process all our requests. And as those tasks get more sophisticated, and AI becomes Super Intelligent, they will need even more electricity.

But as Super AI develops, could it become so intelligent that it is able to solve the very problems it creates?

Contributors:
Dr Mark Van Rijmenam, a strategic futurist
Kate Crawford, research professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research in New York
Sam Young, AI Manager at Energy Systems Catapult
Rose Mutiso, research director of the Energy for Growth Hub

Presented by David Baker
Produced by Louise Clarke
Researched by Katie Morgan
Edited by Tara McDermott
Technically Produced by Craig Boardman

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Do we have enough energy to power AI?

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