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AI costs us a lot

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will affect the future of everyone on the planet, or so we're promised.

Whether that effect is positive or negative depends on who you listen to but chances are it'll be a lot of both.

The negatives are already becoming very apparent, especially if you're a Windows 11 user who has discovered that Microsoft's "vibe coding" of updates is producing a world of pain with all sorts of new bugs appearing at every turn.

As mentioned in previous columns, the demands made by AI has resulted in skyrocketing DRAM and GPU prices, with solid-state storage also now feeling the impact. Electricity costs are also going through the roof in some places due to the insatiable appetite for watts that AI datacentres generate.

Then there are the jobs lost to the roll-out of AI across a wide range of occupations, even the creative industries.

All this, before we even touch on the claimed existential threat that AI poses to mankind.

However, the positives also abound.

Productivity right across the board looks set to be boosted enormously by AI systems and in the area of research, AI is making astonishing inroads into solving problems that had us stumped for decades.

However, there is another cost to AI and that's the simple dollar cost.

According to Google's own AI (Gemini), by the end of 2026, the investment in AI will have reached a breathtaking US$837 for every man, woman and child on the planet.

That is a truly astonishingly large amount of money -- and we're not even close to the end of this investment.

Now while it's pretty easy to see how $800 could be recouped from the populations of developed nations, it's awfully hard to see how the people of third-world countries would cover that cost. How will the ChatGPTs and Googles of the world make back that money?

Of course we know that's not how these things work but it does highlight the fact that there is an awful lot riding on AI being able to deliver on the promises being made for it. The implications for the global economy, if one or more of these AI giants stumbles and fails are enormous.

Another worry is that if AI does become as crucial as it appears it may be, this will further strengthen the power of the few "big tech" companies that control it.

This is particularly worrying when you consider that governments are now turning to AI to help them. Hell, even the Hutt City Council is using AI now!

Imagine the power that will soon be in the hands of those big-tech companies that are supplying the AI systems for the governments of the world.

Given the complexity of such systems and the increasingly "closed box" nature of the tech, how can any government be sure that their AI provider isn't loading the dice to ensure that they quietly and secretly receive special privilege, benefit or advantage?

Of course we need not worry though eh? I mean, I'm sure that none of the big-tech companies have ever broken the law and been prosecuted by governments... have they?

Don't be evil

Carpe Diem folks!

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