Google's AI could consume as much energy as Ireland - study

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According to a new study, by 2027, the artificial intelligence industry is capable of consuming as much energy as countries like Argentina or the Netherlands.

Here's What We Know

The author of the study, Alex de Vries, cites a hypothetical scenario in which Google's entire search business completely switches to AI technology. In this case, the company's annual energy consumption could be 29.3 terawatt hours - the same amount that Ireland consumes.

In 2021, Google's total energy consumption was 18.3 terawatt-hours, of which 10-15 per cent was attributed to AI. However, the company is actively expanding the use of technology in its services.

According to the expert, the introduction of AI into existing applications like search engines can quickly increase the share of their energy consumption. At the same time, the limiting factor is the lack of powerful graphics processors to process such volumes of data.

While the scenario is hypothetical, it demonstrates the potential impact of AI expansion on energy consumption. Already, data centres consume 1-1.3% of the world's energy.

Source: The Next Web