Researchers see that artificial intelligence consumes enormous energy and they want to reduce the consumption

aAI applications should also help protect the climate in the future, but researchers warn of a sharp increase in energy consumption in AI data centres. “AI tools consume a lot of electricity, and the trend is increasing,” Managing Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) in Potsdam and Head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability, Ralf Herbrech, told the German news agency DPA. Simply training a single AI model is an energy-intensive process with complex predictive calculations.

Data scientist Alex de Vries from Amsterdam compares energy consumption with that of entire countries using a search engine that uses artificial intelligence. Scientists and Internet companies are working to improve the environmental footprint of artificial intelligence.

The topic of artificial intelligence has received significant attention, among other things, through the ChatGPT text bot from California startup OpenAI. Safety technology in cars is also controlled by artificial intelligence, making heating systems more efficient. AI systems are also found in healthcare and businesses.

Energy consumption can increase up to 30 percent

“Data centers now consume 4 to 5 percent of global energy consumption,” Herbrich said. If we add the use of digital technologies such as laptops and smartphones, the number reaches 8 percent. There are estimates that consumption will rise to 30 percent in the next few years.”