Large data centers continue to emerge across the country as large tech companies compete to deliver the best in generative artificial intelligence or generator AI. According to Baltimore Sun, data centers were able to account for 12% of all US electricity within five years.
Baltimore Sun spoke with Jeffrey Shaffer, director of the Applied AI Lab at Lindner College of Business about insights into the impact of AI on energy. Shaffer said AI is expected to contribute trillions to the global economy and play a role in dealing with climate change.
“This is probably a more paradigm shift than the concept of the internet or gasoline engine,” Shaffer told the Baltimore Sun. “We still don't know what the impact on society is yet. It will be ubiquitous. It will be everything we do.”
According to Baltimore Sun, data centers have already raised energy costs for some consumers. Some experts told the news outlet that nuclear energy is a future that promotes AI and keeps energy green. Others are looking for ways to control consumer price increases from traditional power sources. But Shaffer argues that AI is still new to accurately predicting the energy it needs.
“I'm not coming from that camp, but I think we need to ignore the energy aspect, but we need to recognize that we are in a current period of fluctuation where people are trying to understand that,” Shaffer says. “As the model gets more sophisticated, it allows the model to improve without humans.”
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A featured image at the top of the motherboard's chip labeled “AI”. Photo/Non-flash.
