11mo ago

Sam Altman Says AI Using Too Much Energy, Will Require Breakthrough Energy Source

futurism.com Sam Altman Says AI Using Too Much Energy, Will Require Breakthrough Energy Source

"There's no way to get there without a breakthrough," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, arguing that AI will soon need even more energy.

You're viewing a single thread.

232 comments

hey guys, theres this thing called nuclear energy. It's pretty cool.
- Thorium molten salt reactor
  
  love a good thorium based metal cooled reactor
- Can't do it. Makes the boomers wet themselves. Jane Fonda made a movie about it after she got back from aiding and firing on US troops.
- Massively subsidized and where do you put all the nuclear waste? Nuclear energy is dumb even without thinking about possible disasters. You are just falling for grifters who don't want us to use renewable sources of energy. And before you say it: no, nuclear energy is not green. You would know that if you actually googled for like 5 seconds, but it's easier to believe grifters promising "the one easy solution to solve all our problems", right?
  
  Massively subsidized
  Nuclear energy is four times cheaper than renewables when externalities like baseline generation are imputed: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360544222018035?via%3Dihub
  where do you put all the nuclear waste?
  While more dangerous, the quantity of waste generated compared to all other forms of energy generation is very small. Storage is a solved problem, but you have probably read articles about a lack of storage in the U.S. This is entirely due to politicians' failure to agree on where to store waste. Despite the relative safety, no one wants nuclear waste stored in their "back yard."
  And before you say it: no, nuclear energy is not green.
  Nuclear energy generates zero CO2. Surely we can agree that this is the most pressing consideration in terms of climate change. If your concern is the nuclear waste, then I direct you to the growing problem of disposing of solar cells and wind turbines. Newer turbine blades, for example, are 40 meters long and weigh 2.5 tons. These cannot be recycled.
  No matter how you cut the data, nuclear is an order of magnitude better than almost all other forms of energy generation. If our goal is to radically improve our environmental footprint while keeping the lights on even at night when it's not windy, then nuclear absolutely must be part of the mix.
  
  This guy knows his shit
  
  Unfortunately he does only know how to misrepresent shit. This is of course all bullshit, and at best outdated information that does not take the massively falling price of renewable energy into account. Nuclear can be a transition helper, IF and only IF you already have running reactors.
  
  We could’ve had those reactors if people didn’t say the same things you’re saying 30 years ago.
  
  Let's see your data
  
  Let's talk about the technology instead of the dumb word "nuclear". Thorium fission > uranium fission.
  
  Wierd spin you put on all of that. Burn the solar panels and blades. Reclaim the energy in heat and its still way safer than nuclear waste.
  
  You can't be serious, can you? First off you would need pretty higher temperatures to burn glass. Secondly the fumes and dust it would put out would be nasty.
  
  Yeah, still not radioactive nasty though. Don't get how you are all so naive. The only reason most countries have a nuclear program is so they have nuclear weapons.
  
  The only reason most countries have a nuclear program is so they have nuclear weapons.
  The only reason most countries have a nuclear program capable of generating plutonium products is to build nuclear weapons*
  FTFY
  
  You are right it isn't very radioactive and a lot harder to control, not like I designed air scrubbers for 4 years of my life or something.
  The only reason most countries have a nuclear program is so they have nuclear weapons.
  Citation needed.
  A pity decades of OPEC propaganda has worked so well.
  
  Ahh you're not naive you are biased. Anything you say is effectively propaganda. Jog on.
  
  Argument ad homunium.
  
  It's a valid point in this case and I'm not attacking your character, I have respect for engineers/designers especially when it comes to reducing pollution. Rather I am attacking your position, which is not without bias, would you not agree on that?
  
  If you mean that I am biased towards following evidence over feelings and like facts over propaganda then yes I am biased. Generally I am not convinced by "nuclear power bad because nukes bad and they are exactly the same according to a Jane Fonda movie I saw".
  Nuclear power produces very little pollution and it is of manageable types. Once built it can pretty much outlast any energy source. It is very reliable and can produce energy at the same price for long periods of time. Renewables definitely have their uses and I would be happy if they displaced all fossil fuels.
  
  you put the nuclear waste in a hole, deep underground, after burning most of it up. Modern gen 4 designs can burn the vast majority of existing waste products down to a much more reasonable time span.
  Nuclear energy is vastly more green than, coal, gas, petro, etc... Currently arguably more sustainable than massive amounts of solar and wind energy. Wind in particular has a massive waste issue, solar, it's more complicated but there are a lot of precious metals involved and heavy refining done. It's not a zero emissions industry either. The actual production of electricity IS net zero, unlike coal, petro, and gas, which still powers the majority of our grids. Please continue to explain to me how fossil fuels are better than funny green rock.
  You're also accusing me of knowing nothing about nuclear, which is funny, considering i have quite the autistic hyper-fixation on it. And know vastly more about it than the average person. Judging by your response, you're probably not in the field of nuclear energy either.
  Nuclear is a technology we know how to build, understand how to operate safely, and are capable of doing correctly. The only thing we need, is more nuclear plants.

232 comments