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The real cost of AI is being paid in deserts far from Silicon Valley | Rest of World (restofworld.org)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Regarding AI, some simple examples of likely computing expense:

performing 1 + 1 in assembly language: 1 CPU cycle
performing 1 + 1 in a high level interpreted language: maybe 10 CPU cycles
performing 1 + 1 using an LLM: millions of CPU cycles
asking "why was the rabbit an animal after 1 + 1": probably priceless, maybe a billion cycles

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

And that translates directly to energy consumption - a single ChatGPT-style conversation can use as much electricity as charging a smartphone, which is why companies are scrambling to build more efficient AI chips and why they need so many power stations (you can compare some on gearscouts.com to see the best $/Wh values for emergency backup).