Globally we used 2.2 percent more energy last year, up significantly from the historical average of 1.5 percent – and AI and related technologies are a major contributor to this upward trend.
In 2020 all types of computing activity accounted for about 3.7 percent of our energy use. Today it is nearly double that and by 2040 it is predicted to rise to 14 percent. To put that in context, the global aviation industry uses 2.5 percent, so in just twenty years our phones and laptops will be polluting our planet to the equivalent of four new aviation industries.
• Our artificial world with Colin Beardon
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