{"id":3513920,"date":"2025-06-18T11:48:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/?p=3513920"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:48:06","slug":"ai-demands-to-be-fed-were-all-servers-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/stories\/2025-06-18\/ai-demands-to-be-fed-were-all-servers-now\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Demands to Be Fed. We\u2019re All Servers Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead-in\">The colossal energy demands of artificial intelligence have earth-shaking implications for everyone. Already rising steeply, they are set to accelerate at a dizzying pace as various global powers race to be the first to achieve supreme intelligence over everything.<\/p>\n<p>Without thought or consequence. Without checks or limits.<\/p>\n<p>The mantra of the moment is \u201cCompute, baby, compute.\u201d Power to the machine.<\/p>\n<p>Case in point is the petrostate of Alberta. More than 70 per cent of the province\u2019s electricity now comes from natural gas-powered turbines, and Premier Danielle Smith wants to share the bounty with Big Tech.<\/p>\n<p>To that end, Smith\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.alberta.ca\/dataset\/f6fe5816-12ac-4ba6-805c-d0a0dd5aebf9\/resource\/26d62103-ff38-4310-a98f-ab4595a4af74\/download\/ti-albertas-ai-data-centre-strategy.pdf\">proposes<\/a>\u00a0to blanket rural Alberta with $100 billion worth of data centres to provide more computing power necessary to accelerate the future, and along with it more fossil fuel extraction.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"aside \" data-dev-object-descrip=\"01-molecules\/blocks\/aside\" data-dev-status=\"IN-PROGRESS\">\n<section id=\"sidebar_ab\" class=\"messaging-block messaging-block--ask\" data-dev-object-descrip=\"01-molecules\/blocks\/messaging-block--ask\" data-dev-status=\"IN-PROGRESS\"><\/section>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Or as Smith\u2019s government puts it: \u201cAlberta is driven to be North America\u2019s destination of choice for AI-enabled data centre investment.\u201d Energy Minister Brian Jean boiled it all down to a single robotic social media post: \u201cAI needs power \u2014 Alberta delivers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response, tech companies have already proposed 29 data centre projects. Together these energy-intensive behemoths would consume 16 gigawatts of energy. That\u2019s more than 10 times the current load for Edmonton. In fact, it\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccarthy.ca\/en\/insights\/blogs\/canadian-energy-perspectives\/alberta-faces-a-surge-in-ai-data-centre-power-demand-aeso-responds-with-phased-connection-plan\">exceeds<\/a>\u00a0all of Alberta\u2019s current peak electrical consumption of 12 gigawatts. In filling the demand for AI data centres, Alberta would basically need to create a second, parallel electrical system.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently sobered by that prospect, the Alberta Electric System Operator has put a cap of 1.2 gigawatts on new projects till 2028 to protect the grid.<\/p>\n<p>There is good reason to fasten that cap tightly. Texas tells an instructive story about the consequences of unfettered high-tech energy cannibalism.<\/p>\n<p>The state, like Alberta a gung-ho methane extractor, hosts 350 data centres, many the size of football fields. Some of these complexes use more power than mid-sized cities or entire municipalities. Balancing the Texas grid with such explosive growth now threatens the system\u2019s reliability. Already the Lone Star State is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.generac.com\/resources\/emergency-preparedness\/top-5-states-with-power-outages\/\">one of the top<\/a>\u00a0blackout states.<\/p>\n<p>To add insult to injury, homeowners will be asked to pay\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nai500.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/the-rising-hub-of-u-s-data-centers-faces-an-electricity-crisis\/\">rising electrical bills<\/a>\u00a0for infrastructure upgrades. Texans will find feeding the tech beast a massive chore, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The state\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nai500.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/the-rising-hub-of-u-s-data-centers-faces-an-electricity-crisis\/\">will need to add<\/a>\u00a0the electricity equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear reactors to meet soaring demand by 2030 from the world\u2019s greediest energy eaters: data centres, bitcoin mining and hydrogen production. As a consequence, tapping independent on-site power generation with no ties to the grid is all the rage among tech companies in Texas.<\/p>\n<h3>AI\u2019s fast-growing hunger for electricity<\/h3>\n<p>The trend lines are staggering. We\u2019re just in the early days of the AI boom, and already data centres consumed 4.4 per cent of the United States\u2019 electrical supply in 2023. A recent report by the California-based Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/doe-releases-new-report-evaluating-increase-electricity-demand-data-centers\">estimates<\/a>\u00a0they will command 6.7 to 12 per cent of total U.S. electricity by 2028. In Ireland, where data centres are clustered around the outskirts of Dublin, the industry is already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/article\/2024\/jul\/23\/ireland-datacentres-overtake-electricity-use-of-all-homes-combined-figures-show\">gobbling<\/a>\u00a021 per cent of that country\u2019s electrical supply.<\/p>\n<p>This as the world is seized by a surge in electricity consumption due to several factors. Hot weather caused by climate disruption has played a role by boosting the need for air conditioning and so, too, have electric cars. But the growth of data centres and artificial intelligence is the main factor for the sharp increase in electricity use.<\/p>\n<p>The International Energy Agency recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/energy-and-ai\">calculated<\/a>\u00a0that powering data centres \u201cis on course to account for almost half of the growth in electricity demand between now and 2030.\u201d In fact,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cthe U.S. economy is set to consume more electricity in 2030 for processing data than for manufacturing all energy-intensive goods combined, including aluminium, steel, cement and chemicals.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Are leaders in Alberta paying attention to such projections? How about in B.C., where Bell AI Fabric last month\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/british-columbia\/bell-ai-new-data-centres-bc-1.7546516\">announced<\/a>\u00a0plans to build six new AI data centres, while eyeing more in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec? All provinces need \u201cpolicy frameworks\u201d to guide them now and \u201clonger-term\u201d as they weigh tempting AI data centre private investments against the significant risks they bring,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/climateinstitute.ca\/smart-way-integrate-artificial-intelligence-data-centres-canada-electricity-grids\/\">urges<\/a>\u00a0the Canadian Climate Institute.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what the AI data centre explosion means for all of us who don\u2019t happen to be policymakers or tech titans.<\/p>\n<p>Start with bigger monthly electricity bills. Rising energy demand inexorably leads to rising prices for electrons or the methane making them. In regions that have welcomed AI energy cannibals into their midst, such as Ohio, electricity prices have already\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/04\/climate\/electricity-prices-republican-big-beautiful-bill.html\">jumped<\/a>\u00a0by 26 per cent. Thanks to the AI revolution, the cost of building a natural gas power plant and its turbines has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spglobal.com\/commodity-insights\/en\/news-research\/latest-news\/electric-power\/052025-us-gas-fired-turbine-wait-times-as-much-as-seven-years-costs-up-sharply\">gone up<\/a>\u00a0three times since 2022. Just ordering one can take five years.<\/p>\n<p>Your water bill likely will go up, too, as your community competes for dwindling supplies because data centres, which need to be constantly cooled, worsen water scarcity.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, AI grimly compounds the dangerous dynamics of the energy-water nexus. It is impossible to produce energy without water, whether we\u2019re talking about spinning turbines with dammed reservoirs or injecting water underground to dislodge oil and gas through fracking. At the same time, it is impossible to clean and pump water without energy.<\/p>\n<p>Now consider this: data centres owned by Google alone used nearly five billion gallons of fresh water for cooling in 2022. A recent study\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2304.03271\">concluded<\/a>\u00a0that AI global growth will command 1.7 trillion gallons of water by 2027. That\u2019s half of the total annual withdrawal of the United Kingdom. Obviously, such demand isn\u2019t sustainable, let alone moral. The study added that \u201cAI\u2019s water footprint can no longer stay under the radar and must be addressed as a priority as part of the collective efforts to combat global water challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond forking out more for electricity and water, each of us will pay the ultimate price for bowing to the AI empire \u2014 defeat in the fight against the climate crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Alex de Vries-Gao, a Dutch researcher and founder of Digiconomist, a firm that exposes the material consequences of digital growth, dares to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/digiconomist.net\/ai-power-demand-rapidly-escalating\/\">state<\/a>\u00a0the obvious. AI\u2019s lightning-speed growth \u201cclashes with other social ambitions, such as achieving climate goals and reducing total energy consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comforting dream that energy conservation would improve while fossil fuels would be replaced by renewables, thereby averting climate catastrophe, has evaporated and been replaced with a technological horror show. The big tech companies that once promised a green future have changed their tune. They want unlimited energy for their AI revolution, they want it now, and they don\u2019t care if the source is coal, methane, geothermal, renewables or nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n<p>Data centres, by the way, must run 24-7 and need constant supplies of energy. So renewables like wind and solar, even with a massive battery farm,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sourceability.com\/post\/the-limitations-of-renewable-energy-in-the-face-of-growing-data-center-power-demands#:~:text=Variability%20is%20not%20a%20good,might%20not%20be%20as%20accessibl\">aren\u2019t a first choice<\/a>\u00a0for Big Tech because of their intermittent nature.<\/p>\n<h3>Powering less freedom, more fragility<\/h3>\n<p>Add to our chaotic prospects the way our daily lives will depend upon elaborate systems increasingly vulnerable to malicious attacks. Thanks to AI, it is much easier to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdstrike.com\/en-us\/cybersecurity-101\/cyberattacks\/ai-powered-cyberattacks\/\">automate and enhance<\/a>\u00a0a digital takedown of an electrical system. The International Energy Agency has documented the growing vulnerabilities\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/topics\/artificial-intelligence#\">posed<\/a>\u00a0by AI:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cCyberattacks on energy utilities have tripled in the past four years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One way to measure our individual dependence \u2014 and impact \u2014 is to ask how much electricity each of us uses up whenever we receive a bit of AI \u201chelp\u201d via our phones or computers.<\/p>\n<p>Figuring that out isn\u2019t an easy task, because the tech giants are no more forthcoming on the details of the energy consumption of their AI language models than they were on the addictiveness of their social media algorithms.<\/p>\n<p>The MIT Technology Review\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2025\/05\/20\/1116327\/ai-energy-usage-climate-footprint-big-tech\/\">took a shot at approximating<\/a>\u00a0by employing best estimates derived from open AI models in the public domain. They found, for example, that large language models like ChatGPT consume anywhere from 114 joules to 6,706 joules per response to a question. That\u2019s like running a microwave from one-tenth of a second to eight seconds. The more parameters an AI model consults, the greater its accuracy and the greater its energy draw. To manufacture a five-second AI video showing an idiotic skier on a sand dune, for example, uses 3.4 million joules. That\u2019s like running a microwave for an hour for the hell of it.<\/p>\n<p>Multiply that act of energy blindness by billions. Then calculate that AI use is still a digital infant in the scheme of things.<\/p>\n<p>Training an AI program is even more energy intensive. Training OpenAI\u2019s GPT-4 has swallowed $100 million and gobbled 50 gigawatt hours of energy. That\u2019s enough to keep San Francisco going for three days or to electrify thousands of homes for a year.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s be clear about what we are doing here. We are using lakes of clean water, reviving coal-powered stations, gulping methane, raising electrical prices, squandering agricultural land and cannibalizing electrical supplies to ask inane questions and make videos about stupid shit.<\/p>\n<p>Boosters of AI tell us the future must be transformative and artificial. But the true, alarming implications are coming into focus as we see that AI models, as they get smarter, can now behave like their makers. They can evade human control. They can rewrite code to avoid being shut down. They can disobey commands. They can falsify information. They can deceive and cheat. They can even lie to avoid modification.<\/p>\n<p>Every once in a while, a crack in the facade of the AI empire is chipped open by one of its elites, and when that happens it\u2019s wise to pay close attention. A matter of survival, even.<\/p>\n<p>Judd Rosenblatt is an AI CEO whose social media tag says, \u201cI am trying to make AI go well and ensure a flourishing future for all conscious life.\u201d Last week he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/ai-is-learning-to-escape-human-control-technology-model-code-programming-066b3ec5\">warned<\/a>\u00a0in the Wall Street Journal that \u201cthe gap between \u2018useful assistant\u2019 and \u2018uncontrollable actor\u2019 is collapsing\u201d and went on CNN to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GJeFoEw9x0M\">reveal<\/a>\u00a0that some AI programs are not only defying their creators but threatening to blackmail them.<\/p>\n<p>Why, in every possible way, are we meekly and madly handing ourselves over like doomed hostages to artificial intelligence and its (temporary) masters?<\/p>\n<p>Who asked for this? Who voted for this? Who will resist?<\/p>\n<p>How many of us, before it\u2019s too late, will lift our eyes from our screens to reclaim our freedom to be human and live on a healthy planet?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The colossal energy demands of artificial intelligence have earth-shaking implications for everyone. Already rising steeply, they are set to accelerate at a dizzying pace as various global powers race to be the first to achieve supreme intelligence over everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128238,"featured_media":3513926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79716,213529,79718],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3513920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-energy-featured","category-environment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3513920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3513920"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3513920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3513925,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3513920\/revisions\/3513925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3513926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3513920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3513920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.resilience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3513920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}