Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said developing AI (artificial intelligence) requires a huge amount of energy, but he called for more development.
- AI models require huge data centers and threaten carbon emissions reduction goals.
- Schmidt suggested that such a goal would be “unachievable” anyway, and that AI should be used to solve the problem.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said we should invest fully in AI infrastructure because climate goals are too high to meet anyway.
The AI boom has spurred investment in data centers that provide the computing power needed to train and run AI models. But the surge in development comes at a price, as data centers consume vast amounts of natural resources. According to McKinsey, annual data center power consumption is expected to increase from 17 gigawatts in 2023 to 35 gigawatts by 2030.
The Biden administration has set ambitious goals to make the electricity sector “carbon neutral” by 2035 and to bring the U.S. economy to “net zero” by 2050. But AI’s dramatic energy needs are pushing some company executives toward fossil fuels, potentially threatening net-zero goals.
Schmidt’s comments came as he shared his thoughts on the future of AI at the AI Summit in Washington, D.C., in early October. Schmidt, who was Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, also served as chairman of the U.S. National Security Council on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI).
Schmidt told the summit that there are several ways to limit the negative impact AI has on the environment. One way to do this is to build data centers using better batteries and power lines. But he believes the growth of AI will eventually outpace these precautions.
“All of that will be swallowed up by the huge need for this new technology,” Schmidt told the audience.
“Because this is a universal technology and the arrival of an alien intelligence… We may make mistakes in how we use it, but I can assure you that we won’t get there if we protect[the environment].”
When the presenter asked Schmidt again whether it was possible to meet AI’s energy needs without neglecting environmental goals, Schmidt replied, “We’re not organized for that, and we’re not going to be able to meet the energy needs of AI without ignoring environmental goals.” “I probably won’t be able to achieve my goal anyway,” he said.
“Certainly the needs of the field are going to matter, but I’d rather bet on AI solving the problem than suppressing it and having it fail,” Schmidt said.
In 2022, he founded White Stork, a defense company that develops AI-powered drones. In a speech at Stanford University in April, he said the war in Ukraine had turned him into an “arms dealer.” White Stork also said it will “use AI in complex and powerful ways for these robotic wars.”
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(Translation and editing: Yoshimi Yamaguchi)
Source: BusinessInsider
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