Sam Altman would like remind you that humans use a lot of energy, too

During a recent event organized by The Indian Express, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, addressed rising apprehensions regarding the environmental implications of artificial intelligence. Speaking from India, where he participated in a significant AI summit, Altman dismissed claims about AI's water consumption as "totally fake." He acknowledged that water usage was a valid concern when older cooling methods were employed in data centers but emphasized that current misconceptions are exaggerated. "You see these claims online suggesting that using ChatGPT consumes 17 gallons of water per query, which is completely untrue and disconnected from reality," Altman stated. However, he recognized that there are legitimate worries surrounding the overall energy consumption of AI, especially given its increasing prevalence in the world. He advocated for a swift transition towards renewable energy sources such as nuclear, wind, and solar power. Altman explained that there is no legal obligation for tech companies to report their energy and water usage, prompting scientists to conduct independent studies. He also pointed out the correlation between data centers and the rising costs of electricity. When questioned about the accuracy of claims that a single ChatGPT query equates to 1.5 iPhone battery charges, Altman refuted this, stating, "There’s no way it’s anything close to that much." He criticized the focus on AI's energy usage as often "unfair," particularly when comparing the energy required to train AI models to the energy consumed during human learning processes. He elaborated, "It takes around 20 years of life and all the food consumed during that time to develop a human's intelligence. The evolution of countless generations has contributed to this knowledge base." In Altman's view, a more equitable comparison would be how much energy is expended by an AI model after training to answer a question versus the energy a human uses to come to the same answer. He believes that AI may already match or exceed humans in terms of energy efficiency in this context. For those interested, the full interview is available for viewing, with discussions on water and energy usage commencing around the 26:35 mark.