[Remnant44]

By the same token, even if you accept that AI usage will incentivize additonal model trainings, that cost is diffused across hundreds of millions of users, and is not a marginal cost, so it gets further reduced on a per-chat basis the more you use AI. I don't know what the per-user environmental cost of training a model is, but that's a pretty big factor to divide energy usage by.

[spencerflem]

But irrelevant if the point is to not contribute to something that you'd rather see banned.

[Remnant44]

I don't really follow this objection. Determining the actual energy usage of AI training+inference is something that is an objective reality. Whether you hate it or love it doesn't change these facts.

[spencerflem]

I think LLM training is objectively bad for the environment (uses countries worth of power). I am aware than my marginal usage wouldn't change things much either way, but I don't want to encourage them regardless.

[simonw]

Uses countries worth of power?

Training a single LLM takes a few dozen fully loaded transatlantic passenger aircraft trips worth of power.

For "counties worth of power" I think you might be talking ALL data center use as a whole.