Geoff Bennett - Artificial Intelligence: A High Level Perspective on Environmental Aspects

Abstract

AI represents one of the biggest inflection points in the modern world of technology. Hyperscalers and other companies see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage AI to enhance existing business models and create new innovations. Today the only way we know of to enhance AI performance is to use more and more compute power to train Generative AI models. This in turn seems to require astonishing amounts of electrical power that places massive strain on existing electrical grids, uses huge volumes of fresh water, and may place any chance of stemming climate change at risk. In this tutorial I look at the trends for resource use by AI data centers – especially in terms of power demands. I look at the power requirements and discuss how these match up to potential power sources and the published hyperscaler strategies for power supplies. I conclude by examining both Enhanced Geothermal and Nuclear power options.

Biography

Geoff Bennett is the Director of Solutions & Technology for Nokia, a leading manufacturer of Intelligent Transport Network solutions. He has over 35 years of experience in the data communications industry, including IP routing with Proteon and Wellfleet; ATM and MPLS experience with FORE Systems; and optical transmission and switching experience with Marconi, where he held the position of Distinguished Engineer in the CTO Office. Geoff is a frequent conference speaker, and is the author of “Designing TCP/IP Internetworks”, published by VNR.

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