Defense of AI energy demands: Potential for climate change & health crises

Artificial intelligence Head of Open AI: High energy use for AI is worth it

2025-02-11 Source: dpa 2 min Reading Time

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Speaking to students at TU Berlin (Germany), Sam Altman recently defended the energy demands of AI applications. They could help solve major issues like climate change and health crises. He also advocated for more trust in the systems.

The training and operation of complex AI models require a lot of energy—is this justified in view of their potential benefits?(Image: freely licensed / Pixabay) — The training and operation of complex AI models require a lot of energy—is this justified in view of their potential benefits?
(Image: freely licensed / Pixabay)

The head of the company behind Chat GPT, Sam Altman, justified the growing energy demand for artificial intelligence applications. "AI only uses a tiny fraction of the world's energy today. It is even quite efficient per query," Altman said in a panel discussion at the Technical University in Berlin. According to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), two to three percent of the world's electricity production is used to operate AI server farms worldwide.

In Berlin (Germany), Altman painted a scenario of what would happen if AI were banned because of power consumption: "We will ban computers. We will ban the light bulbs in our heads and sit in the dark without consuming energy." The alternative, he said, is to use AI for meaningful things. "Even if we have to use hundreds of megawatts or gigawatts for this problem, it would be a great gain," Altman said.

With the help of AI, it is possible to figure out how to achieve efficient and affordable nuclear fusion for the production of large amounts of energy. "This could quickly replace thousands of gigawatts of capacity currently generated worldwide by fossil fuels."

100 years of science in one year

According to Altman's assessment, AI applications are far from fully developed. With the use of AI, the development time for scientific discoveries could shrink from ten years to one year. "And one day we will be able to accomplish the scientific work of a hundred years in one year." This could improve the quality of life and address the most urgent problems facing humanity, such as tackling climate change or curing diseases.

Altman appealed to the audience to have a certain level of trust in AI systems, even if the way they function is not always understandable: "I use products every day that I don't understand how they work." This mindset allows him to use incredibly complex systems. "I might understand how a car works, but I certainly don't understand how an electron microscope works."

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Date: 08.12.2025

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