The cost of feeding my plastic brain
I have a plastic brain. At least that is what neuroscientists tell me and I’ve noticed some of those experts also believe my use of artificial intelligence might be readjusting how I think. And my enjoyment of AI is also taxing my neighbours.
Listening to David Lee, PwC Ireland’s Chief Technology Officer, I realise I’m one of many who have enjoyed the democratisation of new intelligence because I can talk to several flavours of AI just with my phone. He believes there is a risk of not leaning into AI. “I can tell you for a fact that the technology will be better in three months' time. An better again in six months.”
Use it and learn–that’s what I recommend to people taking the AI training I conduct with small groups in Ireland. Some of the most valuable opportunities are often identified by employees closest to day-to-day operations. “Senior leadership aren’t always in the the weeds of how everything works,” says David O’Sullivan from Forvis Mazars. Some of the best use cases I’ve heard suggested during sessions with the Irish Innovation Skillnet come from junior staff and middle management.
From the other side of the Atlantic, Christopher S. Penn offers timely observations about how the real value of artificial intelligence lies in turning data into insights. Chris runs Trust Insights and his encyclopedic knowledge is at least three months ahead of the average office analyst.
Over in the States, Irwin Stelzer notes almost 61 per cent of Americans believer the country is on the wrong track, 55 per cent say they find it a severe hardship to maintain their current standard of living, 76 per cent believe economic conditions are getting worse. American consumer sentiment is at its lowest point since the University of Michigan Survey began in 1952. Blame the grumpiness on Trump’s Ailing Economy.
I see a lot of this grumpiness in videos I watch on YouTube. I respect those grump voices more when their videos are from real people with their authentic voices. There is too much AI slop contaminating online videos and in a large swath of written materials. Brigit Kolen, Roger Overall, and I are trying to show people the value of authentic voices in a project we’re formulating.
Those real voices will form part of our Authentic Stories project. In a perfect world, we might get a mention on Ireland’s most popular radio programme. That’s Morning Ireland, the show that 452,00 people tune into every morning. If ever there is a time when people will listen to live radio, it’s when they wake up. Even in this age of always-on news, people want to hear what new day brings.
And with audio, you don’t have to look at a screen. And the news is in your car.
One of the discussions forming part of the daily conversations revoles around data centres springout up around Ireland. That’s becuse data centres could suck up more electricity by the end of thedecade than all the houses in ireland use. In Ireland, data centres consume about 22 per cent of electiricty output, compared to 28 per cent for homes.
To hear the government explain it, data centres are a “critical component of the infrastructure underpinning modern digital economies”. So as long as Ireland courts large multinationals, data centres will be part of the landscape.
Local and national radio give prominent coverage to a recent report commissioned by Friends of the Earth and Beyond Fossil Fuels. Written by Sean Fearon, the report claims data centres are pushing up household electricity prices. The report claims an estimated average of €360 was added to household electricity bills between 2015 and 2023 due to high data centre energy demand. The report warns that depending on the growth of the data centre sector, the average Irish household could pay a further €295 to €644 cumulatively from 2025 to 2034. This means Irish households have “effectively been paying a hidden data centre tax on their electricity bills.
And since I’m a heavy user of AI, perhaps I should offer to offset the cost of my neighours who don’t want to see the logo of an AI accompanying anything they do.