[kubb]

So infinite? There’s no amount of compute that would satisfy everyone’s needs and demands.

[blfr]

I doubt this. It's probably quite high but there is a limit to how much compute you can genuinely use. Just like there's only so much water you're gonna use even if you greatly enjoy Californian almonds.

However, there's probably no limit to energy/electricity we can usefully allocate. And therefore yes, we should in fact provide as much as possible, Dyson spheres and all.

[kubb]

How do you figure that? And if it exceeds what we can generate, a very big number is as unsatisfiable as infinity

Dyson spheres are science fiction. Science fiction is fiction.

[blfr]

Work without effort and thinking machines were also once fiction.

[kubb]

They still are.

[stingraycharles]

Isn’t this exactly the type of thing that a market is designed to discover, which we’re seeing unfold right now?

Yes, maybe they’re building too many right now, who knows. It’s very likely that demand for computation will go up in the future, and EVs are also going to be consuming much more electricity, so all governments better start preparing for more (clean) electrical supply.

[hdgvhicv]

That’s all fine as long as the market covers all externalities. It doesn’t

[kubb]

Building data centers sounds like a good bet to make some money in the next decade or so.

That’s not the same as conceding that “everyone should get as much compute as they demand”.