The current messaging on AI has an undercurrent of fear and uncertainty, however if we focus on the improved human experience, we can reshape the narrative both in the media and in the minds of the general public. AI has the potential to significantly improve our lives in many industries including medicine, public safety, transportation, retail, education, sports and entertainment. AI will play a major role in allowing us to collect, process and analyze large amounts of data faster than we ever have before.
Many experts agree that energy and the continued development of AI are critical to America’s national security. In order to compete with our allies and adversaries, we must advocate and call upon Congress and policymakers to act immediately in developing legislation in support of American technology and innovation throughout the AI sector. This should also include reducing regulations that have prohibited new on and off-shore energy production.
Tailored, targeted messaging will need to be developed for both the public and elected officials on the benefits and drawbacks that come with emerging AI technology. The messaging will need to zero in on putting an emphasis on how the lives of Americans will be vastly improved if AI is used responsibly. We have the potential to make our lives easier and more convenient by pioneering scientific breakthroughs in the fields of medicine, air traffic safety, metropolitan traffic flow and leading the way in adopting safe, autonomous vehicle policy.
We must also recognize the vast amount of energy to produce the terawatts (TW) needed to digest, process and analyze data that AI requires. This includes data centers like Meta, who recently disclosed their plans to open another hyperscale data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The amount of energy required for this particular center would be enough to power over 770,000 homes – more households than the city of Philadelphia.
The immense load of power needed for Meta and other data centers coming online like Google, Amazon and other American tech giants will require an all-of-the-above energy approach, including renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels. We must continue to advocate for sensible energy policy with lawmakers that allow us to develop necessary energy needed while still protecting the environment.
With the new administration and agenda, lawmakers will need to set aside differences associated with AI and emerging technology to make America’s energy independence a priority with the ultimate goal of having energy security. This will be critical in allowing America to lead the way in AI innovation without being interrupted by a global crisis such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia or any other political turmoil. With the amount of energy needed for the data centers driving the growth of AI, we cannot afford to be beholden to any other country for our energy sources or the whims of OPEC. In 2019 the US became the number one exporter of oil & natural gas in the world – surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia in those sectors. In much the same way, we need to ensure we outperform our adversaries in exploiting the use of and broadening the development of AI technology in America.
We can look forward to AI making it less necessary for young Americans to have to attend college and consequently falling victim to the debt associated with student loans. Many will now be able to take advantage of the jobs and opportunities associated with the growth of AI. This would include careers in energy, manufacturing, public safety and industrial trades – all essential as we build out these massive data centers.
We must eliminate fear and take advantage of this opportunity to usher in positive discussion of how AI will increase job creation, support innovation and improve lives across broad communities.
Derrick Hollie is founder of the Energy Poverty Prevention Project. The organization was founded to expand awareness of energy poverty and is committed to changing energy regulations that fail to provide American citizens with access to affordable and reliable energy needed to maintain personal health and economic security.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
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I am enough of a Austrian School fan on economics to consider subsidies and other “state directed economics” an atrocity. The minor little fact that most greens are also socialists makes me doubt their sincerity as to their really being motivated by their beliefs as to the dread effects of greenhouse gasses.
“off-shore energy production“
Sorry dude, we don’t need no stinkin’ off-shore garbage.
The money wasted on wind energy can better be spent financing education, health care, the forest service, and my wine cellar.
And “legislation in support of American technology and innovation” sounds good if it gets the agencies out of the way and lets the folks innovate.
“The money wasted on wind energy can better be spent financing education, health care, the forest service, and my wine cellar.”
How about allowing the people who earned it, to keep it?
Government financing for forestry and its oversight/regulations have ruined forestry. I could write a book about it.
Yup, they sure did a great job of forest management in California….
There is no doubt that AI is energy intensive. North America has enough natural gas and nuclear energy to power the New World for a millennium. If only the bureaucracies would let us go forward…
What possible value do ‘renewables’ meaning solar and wind add to any national energy supply network, on the contrary they are parasitic.
Many articles use similar wording as sops to the current popular religion, without it solar and wind would never have been considered as viable sources for utility-scale energy.
They are all playing to the crowd. I’ve looked into several recent AI data centre announcements and they all seem to include a renewables “component” that is vaguely defined. IOW, a solar panel on a parking meter meets the definition.
AI aren’t some kind of special data centre. AI is just a very large program that runs on top of the same computer hardware that any other application runs on. Just more of them. They have the same faults as any other computer, including being very vulnerable to “dirty power” which is power with unexpected rapid fluctuations in voltage. Where might those come from one might ask?
Renewables….
Data/ computer centres run on reliable, clean energy ie not on solar/ wind. Gas is best but upcoming nuclear energy is a promising path.
But right now that gas is taken from the supply of citizens. The datacentre companies are playing different countries against each other w the threat of pulling out. Many people and parties are very iffy about them. Yes, they bring in revenue but the negatives of having them might outweigh the positives. W the extra energy need f AI on top of all the cooling and running of the system this makes for a very lively discussion. The faultlines are not so clear.
Playing to the crowd- chip makers too. Notice the token solar farm next to this new chip factory in AZ.
TSMC’s New Arizona Fab! Apple Will Finally Make Advanced Chips In The U.S.
Large Language Model (LLM) AI programs use very different hardware architecture than the desktop computers most of us are familiar with. 100,000 Nvidia ‘Hopper’ modules networked together consumes a huge amount of power, plus it needs a lot more power for cooling. Power quality (low noise, smooth waveforms) and reliability is very important, and the mislabeled “Green” power is very low quality.
Ideally, Small Modular Reactors will be used to power these facilities. Clean, steady power, without impacting the local power grid.
Ideally 🙂
I did not mean desk top computers when I said that. I meant data centre servers. Yes the Nvidia modules are a but different but ultimately you need power conditioning to protect all the electronics. The more renewables you have, the more dirty power you have, which means you need more power conditioning.
Actually the best thing to do to power data centers is to start building nuclear power plants. Windmills and solar panels are a waste of time (and money) and shouldn’t even be considered.
Why not coal? Works great for base load power generation and we have more of it than just about any one else.
Coal is bulky but plentiful. The U.S. has even more plentiful uranium. Let’s use both, and let the market decide what to use in specific locations.
That’s why Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc.. have started investing a lot of money into nuclear. Data centers are already stressing electrical grids in the areas they’ve invested in and see nuclear as the best bet to get a reliable source. I see this as a very good thing. Big tech will break the strangle hold green energy has on the public mind and politicians will follow.
Perhaps Mr. Hollie could explain in later comments how a source of electricity which starts and stops with unpredictable intermittency could power AI systems. I know it cannot power my home computer.
With fossil and nuclear renewables are just a net loss in the energy mix. Surely in this bright new age of AI we can drop the renewable conceit and rather build wealth than destroy it.
Peter Dutton starts election run..
Peter Dutton calls on Australians to remove a ‘weak and incompetent’ government
Story tip… or send link to Eric
Derrick I am happy for you that you have so much faith in AI. Don’t get me wrong there is a place for AI and the US should have a major role. The problem with AI is that it is only as good as the developers and the source of information it is searching for answers or problem solving. My problem is the source of information. Let us say we are using AI to battle Covid 19. You know as well as I do that 95 plus percent of the information available was controlled by powerful people and organizations that were hell bent that only the information that supported their views would be available. Not only was information controlled but anyone saying otherwise was censored, cancelled or punished some other way. The problem is that the people providing the AI solutions could honestly say this is the best information available. Policies would be made without all the important information. That is a bad,bad thing.
Second any AI operation backing wind, solar and batteries should be made to run their operations using only wind, solar and batteries. You guys will talk a good renewables game but will insist on only the most reliable sources for your work and the rest of us will be stuck with the worthless renewables. Not gonna happen, you like renewables that’s fine you use them we don’t want that crappy expensive unreliable on again off again option.
Go ahead with your AI but you guys need to pay your fair share for safe, reliable, affordable fossil fuel and nuclear energy not just for you but mainly for the rest of us.
Bob, Agreed. Good points. The silver lining in this narrative is Small Modular Reactors (SMR) has found a partner in these AI data centers. The critical element is reliable power.
Google “Climate” and what do you get? All of the UN approved webpages. One has to do a deep dive to find anything other than propaganda. 17 pages in I found one link that discussed the science.
Control of the search engines affects the quality of the mis-named AI results.
My problem with AI, aside from the fact it is not intelligent, is a lack of foresight on the consequences. We have many historical examples of how a cool idea played badly. A prime example is how social media is dumbing down the population. Seeing the same thing hundreds of times strengthens neural connections and that becomes a truth, even if it is bogus.
What will be the consequences of AI, especially if unrestricted and provided with only data from one side of an issue? With its excellent human language interface, it is believable and people lacking critical thinking skills will not question the results and a new religion is adapted.
When hand held calculators first appeared, there was a cry to eliminate memorizing addition tables. Why, it was asked, do I need to be able to do math in my head when my calculator can save me the trouble.
Answer is simple. Being able to check the answer eliminates error propagation. And what if the battery goes dead? Lots of reasons to have basic skills in wetware available on the individual level.
Sort of like knowing how to spell words so you can see when auto correct puts the wrong word in.
Couldn’t agree more.
Sorry, AI is low level clerical nonsense. At best a search engine.
I think you might be right. Let’s see when AI finally produces something fantastic and extremely valuable for mankind.
Well, there’s AI porn…
I consider Amazon extremely valuable for me. I order something online in the morning, and it is at my doorstep in the evening.
I followed Willi Eschenbach’s recommendation and started asking perplexity.ai about my everyday problems – plumbing, computer. Impressive.
Does Amazon need AI?
I wonder if it would help me find another woman of my dreams, after I lost mine to Alzheimer’s back in October. I don’t believe in lengthy grieving- I’m too old for that at 75.
Did you try?
“We can look forward to AI making it less necessary for young Americans to have to attend college and consequently falling victim to the debt associated with student loans.”
There are already many well paying jobs in the trades- but it seems the youngsters don’t want those jobs.
Dear AI what’s the chances?
Caught dad, bowled son: BBL debutant’s unwanted piece of history
(you can think of it as son pitching in his first big time baseball game and it’s hit out of the park for spectator dad to catch it)
Mum is not impressed.
Check out this program where i discuss the ethical implications of AI https://www.wethepeopleradio.us/20250105-nathan-descheemaeker–joel-gilbert.html
Also see this article here https://x.com/LandmarkMT1215/status/1874105675326120323?t=rfElgimsinHWWZHfBCPbjQ&s=19
There has long been the prediction that too much information will degrade intelligence. Computer systems are already forcing centralization which structurally doesn’t work very well. We already have a culture that moves too fast, time is money but squandered easily. The brilliant man that installed our computer system cautioned me about it because he understood it much better than I could at the time. Information is neutral which takes evaluation which hopefully our brains can continue despite its failures. As a biologist I still fail to see how a machine is comparable and it. certainly seems a consideration of ethics.
Data versus information versus knowledge versus wisdom.