ChatGPT背后的丑陋真相：人工智能以惊人的速度消耗资源

导读：本文主要讨论了人工智能，特别是像 ChatGPT 这样的大型语言模型，在消耗资源和对环境造成影响方面的潜在问题，强调科技行业在追求净零排放目标的同时，需要对其自身的环境问题进行更严格审查和增加透明度。

作者：玛丽亚娜·马祖卡托（Mariana Mazzucato）是伦敦大学学院（UCL）经济学教授，创新与公共目标研究所的主任

The ugly truth behind ChatGPT: AI is guzzling resources at planet-eating rates
ChatGPT背后的丑陋真相：人工智能以惊人的速度消耗资源

Big tech is playing its part in reaching net zero targets, but its vast new datacentres are run at huge cost to the environment
大型科技公司在实现净零目标方面发挥了作用，但其庞大的新数据中心却对环境造成了巨大的影响

Mariana Mazzucato is professor of economics at UCL, and director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
本文作者，玛丽亚娜·马祖卡托（Mariana Mazzucato）是伦敦大学学院（UCL）经济学教授，也是创新与公共目标研究所的主任

When you picture the tech industry, you probably think of things that don’t exist in physical space, such as the apps and internet browser on your phone. But the infrastructure required to store all this information – the physical datacentres housed in business parks and city outskirts – consume massive amounts of energy. Despite its name, the infrastructure used by the “cloud” accounts for more global greenhouse emissions than commercial flights. In 2018, for instance, the 5bn YouTube hits for the viral song Despacito used the same amount of energy it would take to heat 40,000 US homes annually.

当你想象科技行业时，可能会想到一些不存在于物理空间中的事物，如手机上的应用程序和互联网浏览器。但存储所有这些信息所需的基础设施——位于商务园区和城市郊区的物理数据中心——消耗了大量能源。尽管被称为“云”，但这种基础设施的全球温室排放量超过了商业航班。例如，2018年，热门歌曲《Despacito》在YouTube上的50亿次点击所消耗的能源，相当于每年为4万户美国家庭取暖所需的能源。

This is a hugely environmentally destructive side to the tech industry. While it has played a big role in reaching net zero, giving us smart meters and efficient solar, it’s critical that we turn the spotlight on its environmental footprint. Large language models such as ChatGPT are some of the most energy-guzzling technologies of all. Research suggests, for instance, that about 700,000 litres of water could have been used to cool the machines that trained ChatGPT-3 at Microsoft’s data facilities. It is hardly news that the tech bubble’s self-glorification has obscured the uglier sides of this industry, from its proclivity for tax avoidance to its invasion of privacy and exploitation of our attention span. The industry’s environmental impact is a key issue, yet the companies that produce such models have stayed remarkably quiet about the amount of energy they consume – probably because they don’t want to spark our concern.

这是科技行业对环境极具破坏性的一面。虽然它在实现净零目标、提供智能电表和高效太阳能方面发挥了重要作用，但我们必须将焦点转向其环境足迹。像ChatGPT这样的大型语言模型是最耗能的技术之一。研究表明，例如，微软数据中心用于训练ChatGPT-3的机器可能消耗了约70万升水用于冷却。科技泡沫的自我美化早已掩盖了该行业更为丑陋的一面，从逃税倾向到侵犯隐私和剥夺我们的注意力。行业的环境影响是一个关键问题，但生产这些模型的公司对其能源消耗量保持了极大的沉默——可能是因为他们不想引起我们的担忧。

Google’s global datacentre and Meta’s ambitious plans for a new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) further underscore the industry’s energy-intensive nature, raising concerns that these facilities could significantly increase energy consumption. Additionally, as these companies aim to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, they may opt to base their datacentres in regions with cheaper electricity, such as the southern US, potentially exacerbating water consumption issues in drier parts of the world. Before making big announcements, tech companies should be transparent about the resource use required for their expansion plans.

谷歌的全球数据中心和Meta对新人工智能研究超级集群（RSC）的雄心计划进一步凸显了该行业的能源密集型特性，引发了这些设施可能大幅增加能源消耗的担忧。此外，随着这些公司旨在减少对化石燃料的依赖，它们可能会选择在电价较低的地区建立数据中心，例如美国南部，可能会加剧世界干旱地区的水资源消耗问题。在做出重大宣布之前，科技公司应对其扩展计划所需的资源使用情况保持透明度。

Furthermore, while minerals such as lithium and cobalt are most commonly associated with batteries in the motor sector, they are also crucial for the batteries used in datacentres. The extraction process often involves significant water usage and can lead to pollution, undermining water security. The extraction of these minerals are also often linked to human rights violations and poor labour standards. Trying to achieve one climate goal of limiting our dependence on fossil fuels can compromise another goal, of ensuring everyone has a safe and accessible water supply.

此外，虽然锂和钴等矿物最常与汽车行业的电池相关联，但它们对于数据中心的电池同样至关重要。开采过程通常涉及大量用水，并可能导致污染，破坏水资源安全。这些矿物的开采也常与侵犯人权和劳动标准低下有关。试图实现减少对化石燃料依赖的一个气候目标，可能会妥协另一个目标，即确保每个人都拥有安全且可获得的水源。

Moreover, when significant energy resources are allocated to tech-related endeavours, it can lead to energy shortages for essential needs such as residential power supply. Recent data from the UK shows that the country’s outdated electricity network is holding back affordable housing projects. This will only get worse as households move away from using fossil fuels and rely more on electricity, putting even more pressure on the National Grid. In Bicester, for instance, plans to build 7,000 new homes were paused because the electricity network didn’t have enough capacity.

此外，当大量能源资源分配给与科技相关的事业时，可能导致对基本需求如住宅电力供应的能源短缺。英国的最新数据显示，该国过时的电力网络阻碍了可负担住房项目的推进。随着家庭逐渐摆脱对化石燃料的依赖，转而更多依赖电力，这将对国家电网造成更大压力。例如，在比斯特尔，计划建造7000套新房因电力网络容量不足而被暂停。

In an era where we expect businesses to do more than just make profits for their shareholders, governments need to evaluate the organisations they fund and partner with, based on whether their actions will result in concrete successes for people and the planet. In other words, policy needs to be designed not to pick sectors or technologies as “winners”, but to pick the willing by providing support that is conditional on companies moving in the right direction. Making disclosure of environmental practices and impacts a condition for government support could ensure greater transparency and accountability. Similar measures could promote corporate accountability in global mineral supply chains, enforcing greater human rights compliance.

在我们期望企业不仅仅为股东赚取利润的时代，政府需要根据这些组织的行动是否能为人们和地球产生实质性成果来评估它们的资金和合作伙伴关系。换句话说，政策需要设计成不是选择某些行业或技术作为“赢家”，而是通过有条件的支持来选择愿意朝正确方向发展的公司。将环境实践和影响的披露作为政府支持的条件，可以确保更高的透明度和问责制。类似的措施可以促进全球矿产供应链中的企业责任，强化对人权的遵守。

In navigating the intersection of technological advancement and environmental sustainability, policymakers are facing the challenge of cultivating less extractive business models. This is not just about adopting a piecemeal approach; it’s about taking a comprehensive systematic view, empowering governments to build the needed planning and implementation capacity. Such an approach should eschew outdated top-down methods in favour of flexible strategies that integrate knowledge at all levels, from local to global. Only by adopting a holistic perspective can we effectively mitigate the significant environmental impacts of the tech industry.

在科技进步与环境可持续性的交汇点上，政策制定者面临着培养更加可持续的商业模式的挑战。这不仅仅是采取零散的方法，而是需要全面的系统视角，赋予政府建立所需规划和实施能力的权力。这种方法应摒弃过时的自上而下的方法，转而采用灵活的策略，整合从地方到全球的各级知识。只有通过采用整体视角，我们才能有效缓解科技行业的重大环境影响。

Ultimately, despite the unprecedented wave of innovation since the 1990s, we have consistently overlooked the repercussions of these advances on the climate crisis. As climate scientists anticipate that global heating will exceed the 1.5C target, it’s time we approach today’s grand challenges systemically, so that the solution to one problem does not exacerbate another.

最终，尽管自1990年代以来创新浪潮空前，但我们始终忽视了这些进步对气候危机的影响。随着气候科学家预测全球变暖将超过1.5摄氏度目标，现在是时候系统地应对当今的重大挑战，以免解决一个问题时加剧另一个问题。

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