#AI and Climate

[animentality]

[muffinlevelchicanery]

[familythings]

Is Artificial Intelligence Accelerating the Climate Crisis?

If you care about the environment, think twice before using artificial intelligence (AI). Generative AI, a cutting-edge technology driving many modern applications, consumes 30 times more energy than traditional search engines. This alarming statistic comes from researcher Sascha Luccioni, who has dedicated her career to raising awareness about the environmental impact of AI. Recognized as one of…

[utopicwork]

04/25/25

"Thermal imaging of xAI's Memphis facility prompted allegations that more than 30 of xAI’s methane gas turbines are operating without environmental permitting."

[darkwood-sleddog]

I think generative AI is really insidious on its own, but the amount of it I have seen on indigenous history pages online lately is so disheartening & infuriating. there is already so much misinformation that spreads attached to real photos of indigenous people and this just perpetuates that further. i mean i could tell this particular one i saw was AI because the dogs were not accurate to the group they claimed to be from aside from the weird smoothness etc., but most people are not going to look for that.

and aside from the misinformation issues (and of course the stealing content and livelihood from artists issues) the amount of energy it takes to generate images with generative AI will cost the environment heavily (lots of AI energy plants are already impacting communities and predominantly BIPOC communities), again costing indigenous people their traditional cultures (especially when you consider this was an 'image' of an inuit couple with dogs and inuit are at the forefront of having their traditions decimated by climate change).

as if we haven't done enough fucking damage.

[c-kiddo]

whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! genly and therem portaits/ design ideas . normal abt them

[unitedfrontvarietyhour]

"Marxism comprises many principles, but in the final analysis they can all be brought back to a single sentence: it is right to rebel." - Mao (1939)

(Pt.2)

[correctopinionhaver]

"i just don't think i can bring a child into this world" said person in a developed country whose child would have a greater life expectancy and more resources than 99% of humans throughout history

[mostlysignssomeportents]

“Carbon neutral” Bitcoin operation founded by coal plant operator wasn’t actually carbon neutral

I'm at DEFCON! TODAY (Aug 9), I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). TOMORROW (Aug 10), I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

Water is wet, and a Bitcoin thing turned out to be a scam. Why am I writing about a Bitcoin scam? Two reasons:

I. It's also a climate scam; and

II. The journalists who uncovered it have a unique business-model.

Here's the scam. Terawulf is a publicly traded company that purports to do "green" Bitcoin mining. Now, cryptocurrency mining is one of the most gratuitously climate-wrecking activities we have. Mining Bitcoin is an environmental crime on par with opening a brunch place that only serves Spotted Owl omelets.

Despite Terawulf's claim to be carbon-neutral, it is not. It plugs into the NY power grid and sucks up farcical quantities of energy produced from fossil fuel sources. The company doesn't buy even buy carbon credits (carbon credits are a scam, but buying carbon credits would at least make its crimes nonfraudulent):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/31/carbon-upsets/#big-tradeoff

Terawulf is a scam from top to bottom. Its NY state permit application promises not to pursue cryptocurrency mining, a thing it was actively trumpeting its plan to do even as it filed that application.

The company has its roots in the very dirtiest kinds of Bitcoin mining. Its top execs (including CEO Paul Prager) were involved with Beowulf Energy LLC, a company that convinced struggling coal plant operators to keep operating in order to fuel Bitcoin mining rigs. There's evidence that top execs at Terawulf, the "carbon neutral" Bitcoin mining op, are also running Beowulf, the coal Bitcoin mining op.

This is a very profitable scam. Prager owns a "small village" in Maryland, with more that 20 structures, including a private gas station for his Ferrari collection (he also has a five bedroom place on Fifth Ave). More than a third of Terawulf's earnings were funneled to Beowulf. Terawulf also leases its facilities from a company that Prager owns 99.9% of, and Terawulf has *showered * that company in its stock.

So here we are, a typical Bitcoin story: scammers lying like hell, wrecking the planet, and getting indecently rich. The guy's even spending his money like an asshole. So far, so normal.

But what's interesting about this story is where it came from: Hunterbrook Media, an investigative news outlet that's funded by a short seller – an investment firm that makes bets that companies' share prices are likely to decline. They stand to make a ton of money if the journalists they hire find fraud in the companies they investigate:

https://hntrbrk.com/terawulf/

It's an amazing source of class disunity among the investment class:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/08/money-talks/#bullshit-walks

As the icing on the cake, Prager and Terawulf are pivoting to AI training. Because of course they are.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/09/terawulf/#hunterbrook

[animentality]

[probablyasocialecologist]

Google has ended its mass purchase of cheap carbon offsets and thus stopped claiming that its operations are carbon neutral, according to the tech giant’s latest environmental report. The company now aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. The Alphabet Inc. unit has claimed that it’s been carbon neutral in its operations since 2007. The status was based on purchasing carbon offsets to match the volume of emissions that were generated from its buildings, data centers and business travel. But in its latest report, the company states: “Starting in 2023, we’re no longer maintaining operational carbon neutrality.”

[...]

The changes to its carbon credits purchase strategy have coincided with Google and Big Tech’s push on artificial intelligence, which a Bloomberg News investigation has shown is extremely resource intensive. As a result, Google’s total planet-warming emissions in 2023 are 48% higher than 2019. In that period, its total energy consumption has doubled. It’s a similar story for Microsoft, which has seen primarily its AI activities cause emissions to rise by 30% relative to 2020, even as it still aims to be carbon negative by 2030.

8 July 2024

[landunderthewave]

AI systems were responsible for up to 20% of global data center power demand by the end of last year. Moreover, this share could approach half of data center power demand by the end of this year, as the power demand of AI systems could rise to 23 gigawatts. This exceeds the current power demand of cryptocurrency mining and is equivalent to twice the power needed to keep my home country the Netherlands running.

— Alex de Vries-Gao

This is insane. Consider that data centers are used for all things Cloud computing, storing the websites you visit and the data you put into Google or Apple Cloud, the calculations that need to be run for a lot of products in the background AND STILL a tool that does nothing of fucking value for humanity is already responsible for 20 % of that energy consumption and poised to leave cryptocurrency mining in the rearview mirror by the end of the year.

Whether these tools are further expanded (and generally here to stay) actually matters!

[housecow]

Are you afraid of AI?

yes and no? i do think it will have an overall negative effect on people (kids in grade school and college should not be using it IMO, as the whole point of school is to teach people how to think and work for themselves), and the fact the federal Gov attempted to keep it from being regulated is disgusting. but i mean… it’s a language model. it’s not good at anything and takes up way more resources than its worth 🤷‍♀️

i am afraid of people using it as if it’s infallible. you shouldn’t be talking to it as if it’s a person, either. its going to (and already has) seriously fuck people up.

at the same time—i do think it could play a part in making people’s work actually worth something in the eyes of society? as in, i’d rather buy something from someone that actually put work and effort into creation, vs something AI-generated from someone that doesn’t understand what they’re emulating. i’m sure many people feel this way as well.

but, AI is the natural continuation of the path society has taken—trading quality for convenience. it’s shit, but it’s instant gratification 🤷‍♀️ as long as we continue down this path there’s literally nothing to be done

[snazzi-strawberri]

idk man the more ai gets popular the more people try to make excuses for it to be used. Like "Oh it helps me brainstorm", "Oh it helps me think of a title for my article", "Oh i just need it to make ideas for me for my research paper", "Oh its just a level 2 usage of ai in my homework its ok" LIKE ??? GUYS WE DIDNT USE AI BEFORE??? AND WE WERE FINE??? IT FORCED US TO THINK???

[xtishax]

i'm just so tired. tired of keeping up with every new thing that ai can do. every new technological change happening. every new crisis the planet is facing as a result of 'innovation'. every time i have to re-learn the dynamics, rules and workings of the modern world and society. it's all too much and happening too fast. let's all just calm down.

[ancient-fog]

I strongly believe that someone cannot simultaneously be a Tolkien fan and use AI.

The story of The Lord of the Rings is inherently anti-industrialist and pro-environment. Destroying the forces that seek to oppress and harm the environment is a significant part of the plot. AI is a force of destruction. It kills habitats and contributes to climate change.

Not to mention, AI is anti-intellectual and promotes a lack of critical thinking in a world that is rapidly being radicalized toward fascism.

Is it really worth it to destroy the world just for personal convenience? I personally do everything possible to avoid using AI because it's not worth it. It will never be worth it.

I mean, seriously. I'm not gonna tell you to go touch grass because I hate Big Lawn™️, but I will tell you to go touch the bark of a tree. Put your hand in a stream and feel the rushing water. Lay in a prairie and watch the grass wave in the wind. Listen to the birds sing. And then ask yourself: "are the cheap thrills worth it?" "Is the convenience worth it?"