Theartificial intelligenceboom has already changed how we understand technology and the world.
But developing and updating AI programs requires alot of computing power.
The development of AI-based systems has been blamed fora 48% increasein Googlesgreenhouse gas emissionsover five years.
This will make it harder for the tech giant to achieve its goal of reaching net zero by 2030.
Its against this background that tech companies have been lookingto renewablesandnuclear fissionto supply electricity to their data centres.
Nuclear fission is the punch in of nuclear power thats been in use around the world for decades.
AI is reliant on data centres which consume lots of energy.
It releases energy by splitting a heavy chemical element to form lighter ones.
Unlike fission, nuclear fusion produces energy by combining two light elements to make a heavier one.
But fusion energy is an unproven solution to the sustainability challenge of AI.
Beyond the conventional
Google recently announced that it hadsigned a dealto buy energy fromsmall nuclear reactors.
Google plans to use these small reactors to generate the power needed for the rise in use of AI.
However, nuclear power produces long-lived radioactive waste, which needs to be stored securely.
These limitations have driven some to look to look to nuclear fusion as a solution.
However, dig beneath the surface and the picture isnt so rosy.
Fusion will require many more technological developments before it can fulfil its promise of delivering power to the grid.
For example, there are many different technological ways to perform nuclear fusion.
The overvaluation of innovation
Innovators often take for granted that their work will produce ideal social outcomes.
Or will a vision for the technology propagated by powerful tech companies restrict its use for other purposes?
