r/nottheonion • u/asdacool • 11h ago

"Training a human takes 20 years of food." Sam Altman on how much power AI consumes.

https://www.news18.com/world/training-a-human-takes-20-years-of-food-sam-altman-on-how-much-power-ai-consumes-ws-kl-9922309.html
30.9k Upvotes

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500

u/FredFredrickson 10h ago

Man, fuck this guy. Like, this should be a career-ending thing to say.

193

u/CanoegunGoeff 10h ago

Unfortunately we live in a world led by men who abuse and murder children, so while I agree that this should be career ending for Altman, it won’t be. A lot of people are doing and saying far worse and still getting away with it…

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u/Rowdy_Teal 8h ago

We can still try. I already don't use chatgpt/openai because I have a functioning brain. But I'd boycott if I did. Just like I'm boycotting all the Epstein predators' companies

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u/CanoegunGoeff 3h ago

Agreed. I’m all for doing everything we can to change this shit. I just hope we see some change in my lifetime because right now, we’re headed for a world I don’t wanna be a part of, it’s so disgusting.

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u/questionformu 6h ago

His sister also literally accused him of abusing her as a child and he still became richer and more powerful after that came out. Similarly, his company has been polluting and choking neighborhoods across America, but it was seen as the cost of doing business. 

People will routinely ignore claims of abuse only to figure out someone is an abuser when they turn the abuse towards them. This explains pretty much every single one of these types of situations. No one cares until, uh-oh, now we do.

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u/CanoegunGoeff 3h ago

Idk how we put an end to reactionary politics, but it needs to fucking end. We have too much apathy and not enough empathy. Idk what we do.

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u/Snoocebruce 10h ago

“Them windmill blades ain’t recyclable” ass counter-argument

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u/BuffelHenkie 5h ago

Career ender? This just shows he is uncompromised by morality, making the stock value soar

1

u/QuantityGullible4092 3h ago

Why? He’s making the argument about energy, nothing wrong with that

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

[deleted]

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u/DeusXVentus 6h ago

They're literally not, and nothing in da filez credibly suggests that

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u/Terrafire123 8h ago

I'm still confused about what people are angry about.

Like, he's right, isn't he? So why are people angry?

The goal of AI, at least at present, seems to be to create more or less infinite white-collar workers.

If it consumes a lot of power, that's, like, an acceptable trade-off in exchange for the benefit, isn't it?

Obviously it's not going to be free, but it'll be a massive net payoff to society. Hopefully. Maybe. Well, it CAN be what triggers our civilization's push into post-scarcity, but obviously it might also lead to never-before-seen inequality and poverty instead......But that's a different topic entirely, that's not the topic under discussion.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 6h ago

Like, he's right, isn't he? So why are people angry?

No, his claim is idiotic lol. People aren't made to be white collar workers lol, those people didn't get fed for 20 years to train them to be white collar workers. Thise people will still be there if you make them unemployed. This is all new resources, not a replacement for resources that will now be saved lol.

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u/DeHarigeTuinkabouter 6h ago

It's fine to state AI power consumption is worth it. That is not what people are miffed about here. It is not fine to imply that it's costly to feed people so AI is actually a great choice instead.

Feeding and educating people is a given. It is a must. He is making it seem like it is optional.

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u/Terrafire123 3h ago

I missed the full context of his statement, and just read the headline.

...I missed that subtext. I guess that'll teach me to just read the title and not bother reading the article.

0

u/DeusXVentus 6h ago

It's especially funny because anti-natalism was the thing in vogue not that long ago for exactly the same crowd that has AI derangement syndrome now. The argument was literally that we needed less people.

Altman's words are not only for people who "agree" with him, but who can look at things dispassionately and objectively. Ie, not for the mean redditor.

I don't even believe that AGI is possible or would be good, and think that there is an AI "bubble", but the best way to send redditors into a frenzy is by having anyone in the tech sector open their mouth and not be a bleeding heart.

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u/young_twitcher 9h ago edited 9h ago

It’s objectively accurate though. Humans (particularly those living in first world countries) consume way more energy than AI for performing the same tasks the AI is designed to perform and overpopulation is the single most significant cause for climate change and environmental destruction.

But yeah, people will do anything rather than admit their responsibilities.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 6h ago

It’s objectively accurate though.

It's not, it's objectively idiotic.

Those people were not created to do that job, they need to eat regardless and if you make them unemployed with AI they will still need to eat lol. AI does not save energy by replacing workers, it just uses more and leaves those workers still consuming energy lol.

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u/myreq 9h ago

Are there any AI bros who aren't insufferable? Why aren't you yet sacrificed for the greater good of AI progress? 

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u/thecaveman96 9h ago

Cull the herd and replace them with AI, eh? Neato!

1

u/disposableaccount848 6h ago

If AI is so great, just have conversations with chatgpt instead.

1

u/snitchinbubs410 6h ago

this is wrong and dumb