Sam Altman compares AI and human energy use, Sridhar Vembu pushes back
Amid criticism of the resources used by AI data centers, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that humans also consume too much energy. Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu responded thus.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making things easier for us in many ways. However, this comes at a cost, not just the cost of building the AI infrastructure, but also the cost of running and maintaining it. However, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, believes that when compared to the energy consumed by humans, the consumption by AI data centers is not excessive.
But it seems that Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu does not agree with Altman’s perspective on the matter. here are the details.
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What did Sam Altman say?
Altman addressed concerns over the environmental impact of AI. The OpenAI chief stressed that humans also require a lot of energy and resources to become smart. “People talk about how much energy it takes to train an AI model, but it also takes a lot of energy to train a human being. It takes 20 years of life to become smart and all the food you eat during that time,” he told The Indian Express.
Sam Altman claimed that if we compare the energy consumed by an AI already trained to handle specific queries, this figure may actually be less than what a human would need. Altman explained, “If you ask ChatGPT a question, how much energy does it take once its model is trained to answer that question versus a human? And perhaps, AI has already caught up in terms of energy efficiency, measured that way.”
Sridhar Vembu of Zoho replied
In response to Altman’s analogy, Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu offered a different perspective. The Zoho chief clarified that technology should not be compared on the same level as humans. “I don’t want to see a world where we compare a piece of technology to a human being,” he wrote on X.
Vembu argued that we should not let technology dominate our lives. He said, “As a technologist I work hard to see a world where we do not let technology dominate our lives, but rather quietly fade into the background.”
Sridhar Vembu is not the only person with such views. On X, a user pointed out that such comparisons cannot be ethical. The man said, ‘He does not see any difference between humans and objects.’
Another user said, “This analogy dangerously reduces the human spirit to a mechanical balance sheet of calories and time.” One person shared a screenshot of the movie The Matrix and wrote, “Swapping human sustenance to feed AI, where have we seen this before.”
Sam Altman says one ChatGPT query doesn’t require 17 gallons of water
Over the past few months, many have claimed that a single query on ChatGPT can use up the enormous amount of energy and water needed to run AI data centers. However, according to Altman, this figure is now too low for the individual question. “You see things on the Internet where, ‘Don’t use ChatGPT, it’s 17 gallons of water for each question’ or whatever,” Altman said. “This is a complete lie, complete madness, it has no connection with reality.”
However, the OpenAI chief acknowledged that the world must quickly switch to renewable energy sources as the total energy consumption of AI data centers remains high.