alt Hacker NewsThank you for acknowledging the elephant in the room. I've literally seen people on HN argue that AI's increased power demand isn't bad for climate goals, because the money will encourage renewables.
It's astounding how people don't see it, even when it's the invisible hand of the market that's choking them to death.
Replies
viraptor • today at 12:44 PM
It's the same song as with crypto. Just as silly as then - of course many people will burn whatever is the cheapest fuel right now, even if they maybe invest in something else in the future. But the total goes up anyway.
dormento • today at 12:29 PM
As expertly put by Upton Sinclair, "it is difficult to get someone to understand, when their salary depends on them not understanding it."
It's not the power demand that is the problem.
It's that the majority of AI deployments are happening in a country which has a has had very poor renewable adoption and is now actively sabotaging renewable projects with an active opposition to climate goals because a particular group wants to protect their existing revenue.
Renewables are cheap and highly profitable, and money talks - even in the US, as can be seen in Texas. But it's hard to fight against your government when they want to force you to buy their rich friends' fossil fuels instead...