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September 04, 2023 01:10 pm | Updated September 05, 2023 08:04 am IST
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Is AI eco-friendly? [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS
(This article is part of Today’s Cache, The Hindu’s newsletter on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, innovation and policy. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.)
The generative AI boom comes at a cost: soaring electricity bills and tons of carbon emissions. As companies around the world train AI models to power projects for their customers, they are polluting the environment. For example, OpenAI’s GPT-3 emitted about 552 metric tons of carbon during the model’s training, according to a study by Google and the University of California, Berkeley. AI chips as well as GPUs are power-hungry hardware tools and AI startup leaders are concerned that unless these energy demands are addressed at the earliest, the planet will have to deal with an energy crisis as more advanced AI models are trained and then deployed.
However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was much more optimistic than some of his fellow industry leaders. Altman said that he believed developments in AI would help humanity tackle climate change without too much trouble. Cloud companies such as Amazon Web Services aims to be carbon neutral by 2040 while Microsoft hopes to achieve carbon-negative status by 2030.
Indian parents are concerned that their children are spending too much time looking into digital screens as learning, entertainment, and social interactions all increasingly merge to take place virtually. Most experts agree that children should have no exposure to digital devices until they reach the age of two. Even as they grow older, their usage hours need to be carefully monitored so as to prevent cognitive issues and protect brain health.
Apart from the time spent on digital devices, healthcare experts and counsellors have urged parents to keep tabs on the kind of content young users are consuming. For example, violent games or OTT shows with sexual content can also negatively impact children’s emotional responses and social skills. Additionally, children work around parental control settings by borrowing adults’ devices.
As the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes continue, streaming giants such as Disney and Netflix have listed job postings for AI-related positions with lavish salary packages that are in stark contrast to the five-digit salaries paid to most members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union. However, product managers have defended the salaries being paid to these entertainment executives, pointing out that they reflect the value and profits being brought to the companies as well as the business vision required to keep a company afloat in a sea of changing trends and technologies.
Actors and writers are also keen to protect their creative work and digital likenesses, as generative AI provides ways for these to be harnessed and used in TV shows and films without the consent of the creators or even compensating them. However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has not yet directly addressed the unions’ demands regarding AI rights and payment for data usage.
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