Most active commenters

    ←back to thread

    We Found the Hidden Cost of Data Centers. It's in Your Electric Bill [video]

    (www.youtube.com)
    156 points xbmcuser | 14 comments | 04 Sep 25 12:33 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
    Show context
    gruez ◴[04 Sep 25 14:24 UTC] No.45127614[source]▶
    This video is unconvincing. The thesis of the video basically boils down to "AI companies are using electricity, driving up prices, and residential consumers are paying for it". However it neglects that most of the power usage is caused by the same residential users, who are getting something out of it. 80–90% of AI energy usage is estimated for inference (eg. generating responses on chatgpt), not training[1]. Moreover despite AI companies being unprofitable as a whole, they're making fat margins on inference[2]. Therefore it's reasonable to assume that most of AI electricity consumption that the video complains about is as a result of ordinary people using AI. Taking this into account, blaming AI companies for jacking up electricity prices in this context makes as much sense as blaming airlines for jacking up oil prices. They're only doing so because people are buying their services, and presumably deriving some sort of utility from it.

    [1] https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/20/1116327/ai-energ...

    [2] https://martinalderson.com/posts/are-openai-and-anthropic-re...

    replies(3): >>45127658 #>>45128407 #>>45128532 #
    1. carlob ◴[04 Sep 25 14:27 UTC] No.45127658[source]▶
    You are not taking into account the fact that data centers tend to be pretty concentrated geographically.

    If I live in an area that is trying to attract data centers by giving them sweetheart deals, my electricity bill is going to go up by more than my share in inference usage since those data centers will be used by people all over the globe.

    replies(5): >>45127700 #>>45127862 #>>45127948 #>>45128088 #>>45128214 #
    2. hdgvhicv ◴[04 Sep 25 14:30 UTC] No.45127700[source]▶
    Many, people, probably most, are not using any inference in their lives - certainly not willingly or knowingly.
    replies(2): >>45128156 #>>45131005 #
    3. ◴[04 Sep 25 14:42 UTC] No.45127862[source]▶
    4. megaman821 ◴[04 Sep 25 14:51 UTC] No.45127948[source]▶
    How is this different than any other form of industry?

    If I live in an area that is trying to attract [steel mills] by giving them sweetheart deals, my electricity bill is going to go up by more than my share in [steel] usage since [that steel] will be used by people all over the globe.

    replies(2): >>45128024 #>>45131198 #
    5. lesuorac ◴[04 Sep 25 14:57 UTC] No.45128024[source]▶
    I think if you found the average person on the street and asked them if their electric bill would go up when a steel mill opens nearby they'd only say yes because why else are you asking them.
    6. mcosta ◴[04 Sep 25 15:02 UTC] No.45128088[source]▶
    Then talk to your local politician
    7. silversmith ◴[04 Sep 25 15:08 UTC] No.45128156[source]▶
    Worldwide, maybe. But in the "western world"? Couple weeks ago my mother asked me to compare the main LLM providers. And then for tips how to best use it. She is over 80.
    replies(1): >>45136898 #
    8. gruez ◴[04 Sep 25 15:14 UTC] No.45128214[source]▶
    This sounds like a generic NIMBY argument to me? eg. "why should we build a datacenter in my backyard, when it'll raise MY electricity prices?" Of course, if everyone has this attitude, no datecenters, power plants, homeless shelters will ever be built
    replies(2): >>45128323 #>>45128690 #
    9. zeroCalories ◴[04 Sep 25 15:24 UTC] No.45128323[source]▶
    I am very YIMBY, but it's totally reasonable that you don't want industrial work done in your backyard. This is exactly what zoning and city planning were designed for.
    replies(1): >>45128457 #
    10. merman ◴[04 Sep 25 15:35 UTC] No.45128457{3}[source]▶
    It seems odd to me to try to redefine Y/NIMBY depending on the individual project. I wouldn’t want a sewage plant or a datacenter in my neighborhood, absolutely no one would. Why would one be NIMBY and one not?
    11. ◴[04 Sep 25 15:55 UTC] No.45128690[source]▶
    12. carlob ◴[04 Sep 25 19:04 UTC] No.45131005[source]▶
    Of course, for example me, the person you are replying to. I am an LLM vegan.
    13. croon ◴[04 Sep 25 19:21 UTC] No.45131198[source]▶
    Most other industries create (more) local jobs which would offset the localized cost.
    14. hdgvhicv ◴[05 Sep 25 10:09 UTC] No.45136898{3}[source]▶
    And there was a letter in the local paper this week about someone complaining they councils park in town because they didn’t have a debit card and they certainly don’t have any “app phones”, a far more common approach amongst older people