00:00The AI boom has triggered an enormous surge in computing demand, with severe environmental impact.
00:05Big Tech's latest idea? Move data centers into space.
00:08But some experts and environmental advocates warn the consequences could be catastrophic.
00:13So, are there better ways to tackle AI's growing energy problem?
00:16The good news? There are already promising solutions that could significantly reduce AI's environmental footprint.
00:22Smaller AI models.
00:23Instead of training ever-larger systems on massive data sets,
00:27developers can use smaller, high-quality data sets and more efficient model architectures.
00:31Edge computing.
00:32Many everyday AI tasks, like drafting an email or summarizing a document,
00:36can run directly on your smartphone or computer.
00:39That means fewer requests sent to energy-hungry data centers.
00:42Sustainable data centers.
00:43Data centers can be powered by renewable energy, and their waste heat can be put to good use.
00:48In Finland, Microsoft plans to use two data centers' heat to support heating for up to 100,000 households.
00:54The answer to AI's energy problem might not be bigger engineering projects.
00:58It might be more efficient AI.
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