Eric on Nostr: The energy usage of AI will boil oceans... funny how when POW mining was expected to ...
The energy usage of AI will boil oceans... funny how when POW mining was expected to use massive amounts of energy, that was a bad thing, bad for environment - but when the AI data centers, which also use tons of power, are being built out, it is good for jobs, good for bringing industry to small impoverished communities (made that way by govt subsidized monocrop farming), etc. No mention of environmental impact of these data centers, as long as Microsoft or Google is building them. This has always been the case.
I think this could benefit mining, as the energy costs come down to accomodate industrial use, nuclear comes online, and AI eats up a huge percentage of energy usage. Mining may juat be a very tiny percentage of that new usage model.
It could even be done in the same data centers, as a way to provide an energy usage buffer (avoid usage spikes and valleys) or as a way to help pay for the data centers themselves. Mining could potentially hide in the shadows of AI usage, rather than appear as high usage on the overall grid.
I also really like the ability of miners to work with demand response systems, where they shut down during grid peak usage events.
Anyway, instead of pointing to clothes dryers or christmas lights as other energy uses, move that narrative to a comparison to AI energy use. Just my thought.
I think this could benefit mining, as the energy costs come down to accomodate industrial use, nuclear comes online, and AI eats up a huge percentage of energy usage. Mining may juat be a very tiny percentage of that new usage model.
It could even be done in the same data centers, as a way to provide an energy usage buffer (avoid usage spikes and valleys) or as a way to help pay for the data centers themselves. Mining could potentially hide in the shadows of AI usage, rather than appear as high usage on the overall grid.
I also really like the ability of miners to work with demand response systems, where they shut down during grid peak usage events.
Anyway, instead of pointing to clothes dryers or christmas lights as other energy uses, move that narrative to a comparison to AI energy use. Just my thought.