Im definitely on the side that over using AI and using it commercially seems to be bad. On the other hand, it seems like a tech that has huge potential upsides. I’m not sure we can achieve a post scarcity society with all labor being done by humans. This is where I see AI becoming a massive tool. Assuming we can pair it with mechanical means of work, not strictly digital. I know it’s a touchy subject but I want to hear your opinion. As always, if you’re just going to tell me to read more, recommend literature.
Overall no but mainly from wasteful business usage without any real return. If an individual uses one instead of like streaming video or such to entertain themselves then im not sure they are not using less electricity than they otherwise would. If they are using it for searching and can get a response that is equivalent to several searches in one query then it just might break even. I they are minipulating images or creating content and they otherwise might use other software to do. Well I don’t know as I have not done a comparison and I have a suspicion that its to variable to get a good call but I would not be surprised if it ends up being pretty even. The other real problem is people doing things they otherwise would not. So before people who spent a lot of time learning and getting good at it made digital art but now its whoever and many are making things of far less value than they think it is. Also they might tell it to do the same thing again and again and it pretty much remakes the whole thing whereas a human would be just editing it a bit. The result is a bit like graffitti. A lot of garbage for the resources used but sometimes someone here and there does something good.