The AI-Energy Dilemma: A New Burden on the Grid or a Tool for Efficiency?
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Science and Technology (Artificial Intelligence, Smart Grid); Indian Economy (Energy, Infrastructure); Environment (Renewable Energy, Green Buildings, Energy Efficiency).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Governance): Government policies and interventions.
General Studies Paper 3 (S&T, Economy, Environment, Security): Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life; Awareness in the fields of AI; Infrastructure: Energy; Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; Cyber security. This is a classic, multi-dimensional GS3 topic.
Key Highlights from the News
The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) simultaneously creates a major crisis and an opportunity in the energy sector.
The Burden:
Data centers required for AI operation consume enormous amounts of electricity.
By 2030, India's data center energy demand is likely to quadruple.
This will put significant pressure on the country's energy grid. Additionally, the demand for freshwater to cool servers will also increase.
Cyberattacks using AI pose a new threat to energy security.
The Potential:
AI can play a major role in efficiently using and managing energy.
AI can control Smart Grids and efficiently integrate renewable energy into the grid.
AI can be used to construct green buildings and reduce the energy consumption of data centers themselves.
Final Conclusion: The energy efficiency resulting from AI use is not sufficient to overcome the additional energy demand it creates. Therefore, strong government nudging is required to make the energy grid more sustainable.
COMMENTS