The Major Challenges Posed to Humanity by the Rise of Artificial Intelligence.
The opportunity is there, but the price seems enormous.
On the flip side, you have the rise of OpenAI, a pioneer with ChatGPT of generative AI that has been making the general public fantasize for just over two years. So much so that OpenAI has become the world's 80th-largest company in terms of valuation in just two years. Colossal!
On the flip side, you can see that the balance between OpenAI and the other players in this sector of the AI industry is more than precarious. Every day, OpenAI spends almost $700,000 to maintain its infrastructure. Despite forecasts of $3.7 billion in revenues by 2024, OpenAI's losses are expected to exceed $5 billion.
Every dollar generated by OpenAI costs $2.35!
The OpenAI model is currently 73% dependent on paid subscriptions. This is far too much and makes OpenAI vulnerable. Converting free users into paying subscribers is essential to stabilize OpenAI's finances, but the task is no less daunting. In this respect, the recent raising of $6.6 billion, valuing OpenAI at $157 billion, is a feat in itself.
But how long will investors accept to inject funds without any concrete return?
The AI industry will soon have to reckon with the bottom line.
Unlike Alphabet, Meta, or Elon Musk, OpenAI doesn't have the same resources and will need to reach record levels of funding to survive. An IPO seems unavoidable but remains hypothetical in the context of such high losses.
A worrying ecological footprint
Generative AI relies on energy-hungry infrastructures. The GPT-4 model consumes 3 bottles of water to generate 100 words. To meet demand, Microsoft has reactivated nuclear power plants, and Google is investing in modular reactors with Kairos Power. While these solutions guarantee energy stability, they also increase CO2 emissions: Microsoft's emissions have jumped by 29% since 2020.
The International Energy Agency predicts that energy demand from data centers will double by 2026, threatening global climate targets. While the IPCC advocates energy sobriety, AI seems to be going against the tide, demanding massive energy production that is difficult to sustain.
Is it possible for AI innovation to coexist with the ecological transition?
Transforming uses
With over 250 million users, ChatGPT is revolutionizing search habits. Young people, in particular, prefer TikTok or Instagram to Google for quick searches, while 63% of product searches start on Amazon.
New AI tools, such as Google Gemini, AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, or Perplexity, offer direct, personalized answers, profoundly altering the user journey. Although these uses remain marginal compared to traditional search engines, they threaten their established business model.
Digital marketing professionals must adapt to these changes by diversifying their strategies to capture an increasingly dispersed audience.
Generative AI requires colossal investments and exponential energy consumption while disrupting established usage models. Its profitability relies on rapid growth in the number of paying subscribers, which is difficult to reconcile with climate objectives and the free nature of traditional engines.
Nevertheless, AI could become a lever for innovation in alternative energy technologies, such as modular reactors. However, the current AI race favors immediate solutions to the detriment of a sustainable transition. Its future will depend on our ability to innovate sustainably to meet energy needs while reducing our carbon footprint. Otherwise, the cost of this revolution could outweigh its benefits for society and the environment.
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