AI, Data Centres, and The Great Energy Problem

Did you make an action figure avatar of yourself? Do you ask ChatGPT every time you have a question? Does Co-Pilot write your emails for you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, did you think about the energy consumption and sustainability consequences?

We tell you how much energy a ChatGPT search uses – and as generative AI becomes increasingly commonplace, and infrastructure spring up around the world to cope with demand, we need to understand these often-invisible costs that come with it. It might even cost you a loaf from your local bakery!

Professor Adrian Friday – still not a fan of the Sustainable Development Goals – returns to talk to us about data centres, what they are, how big they are, and what happens in them; who they provide services for; their need for rare earth metals; and the need to cool and power them – and to deal with the heat they generate. It turns out data centres use more energy each year than Italy – and the demand is growing faster than the system can cope with.

We discover why Adrian’s picture (with silly hat included) is stuck on Paul’s fridge; contemplate the logistical difficulties of putting a data centre at the bottom of the sea; discuss the potential need to take an army of ninjas to change a lightbulb; realise the importance of AI to the survival of the Welsh language; and rant about the blanket default of AI across all of life.

And remember, to turn off the AI functionality of a ‘normal’ Google search, simply type ‘-ai’ at the end of your search.

A UK Parliament research briefing provides an entry point to our discussions: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/...

And discover more about Adrian’s work here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/sci-tech/...