AI snake oil — its limits, risks, and its thirst for resources
Sep 12, 2024
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Sam Altman, a visionary behind Chat GPT, discusses the need for democratic societies to adapt their social contracts as AI's influence grows. Joining him is Princeton's Arvind Narayanan, who critiques the hype surrounding AI while revealing its hidden resource costs, including substantial water and energy consumption. They explore the biases in predictive AI, the urgent need for regulatory measures, and the environmental challenges posed by burgeoning data centers. Their conversation unearths the pressing realities behind AI's promises and pitfalls.
The evolving capabilities of AI are expected to necessitate a fundamental reevaluation of societal structures and employment frameworks.
AI's increasing resource consumption, particularly in water and energy, poses significant environmental challenges that require urgent attention for sustainability.
Deep dives
Changing Social Contracts Due to AI
The profound impact of artificial intelligence on society is anticipated to necessitate changes to the social contract over time. The technology is expected to redefine jobs and societal structures, leading to a reevaluation of how people interact with work and technology. Sam Altman, the CEO behind ChatGPT, foresees that as AI evolves, it will raise significant discussions surrounding employment and societal roles. Although he does not predict a total disappearance of jobs, the framework within which societal functions operate may require substantial adjustments.
The Myth of Predictive AI
Many companies oversell the capabilities of artificial intelligence, particularly in how it is marketed as a predictive tool. Professor Arvind Narayanan articulates concerns that using AI for decision-making can lead to dangerous misconceptions, as various forms of AI are often grouped together despite their distinct functionalities. For example, generative AI, like ChatGPT, is vastly different from predictive algorithms used in banking or criminal justice systems, which rely on historical data. This conflation can result in biased and discriminatory outcomes, as these predictive models may inherit past inequalities from the data they are trained on.
Environmental Impact of AI
The rise of artificial intelligence significantly contributes to increased energy and water consumption, raising environmental concerns. Major tech companies like Google and Microsoft have reported substantial increases in their water consumption due to AI operations, with water use rising by nearly 34% in 2022 alone. This surge in resource demand is tied to the energy-intensive nature of data centers, which require massive amounts of water to cool their systems. As AI technologies continue to proliferate, understanding and addressing their environmental footprint will be critical for sustainable development.
Chat GPT pioneer, Sam Altman, reckons democratic countries will need to re-write their social contracts once AI reaches its full potential, such is its power to shape the future. But to quote a famous political aphorism: "he would say that, wouldn't he?" Princeton computer scientist, Arvind Narayanan, joins us to talk about the hype, the reality and the true limits of Artificial Intelligence. His new book is called "AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What it Can't, and How to Tell the Difference". Also, AI's dirty secret – it's a huge consumer of both power and water. And the more popular it becomes, the thirstier it gets.
Guests
Professor Arvind Narayanan – Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University
Gordon Nobel – Research Director, Business, Economy and Governance, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney