https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/28/genai_dirty_secret/
'Computational boffins' research claims GenAI is set to create nearly 1,000
times more e-waste than exists currently by 2030, unless the tech industry
employs mitigating strategies.
The study, which looks at the rate AI servers are being introduced to
datacenters, claims that a realistic scenario indicates potential for rapid
growth of e-waste from 2.6 kilotons each year in 2023 to between 400 kilotons
and 2.5 million tons each year in 2030, when no waste reduction measures are
considered.
The team writes:
For context, this total annual mass would be equivalent to discarding 2.1 –
13.3 billion units of the iPhone 15 Pro (187 g per unit) in 2030, which
translates to 0.2–1.6 units for every person on the planet that year.
The multi-national research team led by Peng Wang, professor in material
circularity at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, considered four scenarios with
varying degrees of generative AI production and application, ranging from an
aggressive scenario with widespread applications to a conservative scenario
with more specific applications. Under the scenario with the most AI growth the
world could create as much as 2.5 million tons of e-waste each year.
"Our study aims not to precisely forecast the quantity of AI servers and their
associated e-waste, but rather to provide initial gross estimates that
highlight the potential scales of the forthcoming challenge and to explore
potential circular economy solutions," the researchers say in a paper published
in
Nature Computational Science today.
The research analysis focuses on AI servers that include GPUs, CPUs, storage,
memory units, internet communication modules and power systems. Ancillary
machinery such as cooling and communication units was excluded from this
study.'
Via Wayne Radinsky.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
