btcschellingpt on Nostr: Jevon’s paradox As efficiency improves, overall use actually *increases* not ...
Jevon’s paradox
As efficiency improves, overall use actually *increases* not decreases
Relevant examples:
As steam engine efficiency improved, overall coal consumption increased because more steam engines were built and used. [Generally holds true for every denser form of energy humanity has unlocked]
As health diagnostics became cheaper (and faster), their use exploded, paradoxically driving overall health care costs up
AI use is likely the same .. improved model efficiency drives individual query compute cost down, yet likely will drive more overall use because usage becomes ubiquitous and therefore drives overall compute demand up
As efficiency improves, overall use actually *increases* not decreases
Relevant examples:
As steam engine efficiency improved, overall coal consumption increased because more steam engines were built and used. [Generally holds true for every denser form of energy humanity has unlocked]
As health diagnostics became cheaper (and faster), their use exploded, paradoxically driving overall health care costs up
AI use is likely the same .. improved model efficiency drives individual query compute cost down, yet likely will drive more overall use because usage becomes ubiquitous and therefore drives overall compute demand up