AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This?

Climate One

News, Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science, Earth Sciences

4.7 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’s share of energy consumption is enormous, and the Department of Energy estimates that data center energy demands will double or even triple in just the next three years. Demand on fresh water is at least as big and isn’t talked about nearly enough. So, what can we do to reduce AI’s impact? Plenty of researchers have ideas — from site selection to energy efficiency to using zero-carbon sources of energy. But what will incentivize the AI corporations to take any of those actions? This episode is supported by Climate One Steward Noel Perry and Next 10. Episode Guests: KeShaun Pearson, Executive Director, Memphis Community Against Pollution Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University Climate One is once again hosting a series of live conversations as part of SF Climate Week 2025! Tickets for all four of our events, featuring leaders such as Jenny Odell, San José Mayor Matt Mahan, Rep. Jared Huffman, Abby Reyes, Margaret Gordon and two of this year's Goldman Prize winners are on sale now through the official SF Climate Week event calendar. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	AI is incredible. They can teach you how to fry an egg and even write a poem, pirate style.
0:07.0	But it knows nothing about your work. Slackbot is different. It doesn't just know the facts.
0:14.0	It knows your schedule. It can turn a brainstorm into a brief and it doesn't need to be taught.
0:20.0	Because Slackbot isn't just another
0:22.4	AI. It's AI that knows your work as well as you do. Visit Slack.com forward slash meet Slackbot
0:28.8	to learn more. I'm Ariana Brocious. I'm Kusha Navadar. And this is Climate 1. Kusha, I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm somewhat of a slow adopter of technology.
0:46.3	I had the same smartphone for about 10 years, and I only recently replaced it because nobody would support the operating system anymore.
0:53.3	The phone still worked. You must have had one hell of a phone case. You don't try to get a new phone every
0:58.5	couple of years? No, not really. And so, you know, I don't think I've been as captivated by the
1:03.4	release of artificial intelligence programs like chat GPT as many other people have. But that said,
1:10.1	I'm aware artificial intelligence is ubiquitous
1:12.4	in all of our lives.
1:13.5	I mean, we use it nearly every day.
1:15.8	In many capacities, I use it editing this program.
1:19.1	And, you know, it transcribes interviews
1:20.7	much faster than a human could.
1:22.8	And in the last few years,
1:23.9	those transcriptions have gotten much more accurate.
1:26.8	Yeah, I feel like there was this
1:27.7	boiling point a couple years ago where this technology just like took off. I remember back in
1:33.2	2017 when I was living in DC as a speechwriter, I was sitting at my kitchen table with my roommate
1:38.8	and our mutual friend. So it's like the three of us sitting around a table. And Ariana, I kid you
	...

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