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Decoder with Nilay Patel

AI has a climate problem — but so does all of tech

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.33.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2024

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Every time we talk about AI, we get one big piece of feedback that I really want to dive into: how the lightning-fast explosion of AI tools affects the climate. AI takes a lot of energy, and there’s a huge unanswered question as to whether using all that juice for AI is actually worth it, both practically and morally. It’s messy and complicated and there are a bunch of apparent contradictions along the way — so it’s perfect for Decoder. Verge senior science reporter Justine Calma joins me to see if we can untangle this knot. Links: This startup wants to capture carbon and help data centers cool down | The Verge Google’s carbon footprint balloons in its Gemini AI era | The Verge Taking a closer look at AI’s supposed energy apocalypse | Ars Technica AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle | WaPo AI Is already wreaking havoc on global power systems | Bloomberg What do Google’s AI answers cost the environment? | Scientific American AI is an energy hog | MIT Tech Review Microsoft’s AI obsession is jeopardizing its climate ambitions | The Verge The answer to AI’s energy needs could be blowing in the wind | The Verge AI already uses as much energy as a small country | Vox Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Callie Wright and Amanda Rose Smith. Our supervising producer is Liam James. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for this episode comes from the current report, from data privacy to the future of TV, retail media, and beyond.

0:07.0

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Each week, marketing leaders in the cutting edge give you the latest insight.

0:18.0

So if it's creating a buzz, they'll be talking about it.

0:21.0

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Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.

0:50.0

This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

0:54.0

Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Eli Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems.

1:03.0

We've been talking about AI a lot on the show lately.

1:07.0

It's unavoidable.

1:08.0

And there's one piece of feedback we keep getting that I really wanted to spend some time on,

1:12.0

how the lightning fast explosion of AI affects the climate

1:15.4

After all to run AI at scale we need to build a lot of data centers and pack them full of power

1:20.9

hungry cheap-pews that takes a lot of energy and whether using all that

1:25.1

juice is worth it comes up frequently whenever we talk about AI. Both as a matter of

1:30.0

practical concern, can our aging grid support all of this, and as a moral objection, we shouldn't build these systems because they'll wreck the planet.

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