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Artificial Intelligence and the use of power

Gary Neal
The Polis
Published in
4 min readJan 6, 2025

A boon to resources or a drain?

A diagram of the effect of Artificial Intelligence on domestic power supplies
Diagram drawn by author

In October of last year, Google signed a deal to buy power from six or seven small modular nuclear reactors. The move will see Kairos Power, a California based company, founded in 2016, build nuclear reactors based on their novel, advanced reactor technology.

The deal underscores the increasing need for the ultra-high, energy-intensive AI industry. A single generative AI query requires nearly 10 times more electricity than a traditional internet search.

Large scale AI developments lead to increased energy levels, which not only puts pressure on the existing grid but also raises the operational costs for companies. Researchers recently found that the cost of the computational power required to train these models is doubling every nine months. This increase in energy demands will also favour areas where energy costs will be at the lower end of the scale, possibly disadvantaging areas with limited supply. This will inevitably lead to higher costs and will influence pricing and therefore potential accessibility for AI driven products and services.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) electricity usage by data centres will increase significantly in the near future thanks to the demands of AI and cryptocurrency. In the United States, approximately 4%…

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The Polis
The Polis

Published in The Polis

Thought-provoking articles on politics, philosophy, and public policy

Gary Neal
Gary Neal

Written by Gary Neal

Retired taxi driver, creative writer, experimental poet, computer enthusiast, web design and learning to program

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