AI's power use looks normal once you divide by users, argues Andy Masley
AndyMasley · x · 2026-09-07
Andy Masley pushes back on AI resource-consumption criticism, arguing the debate lacks a denominator: AI's footprint looks large because usage is huge and concentrated, not because individual interactions are wasteful. He compares it to Coke's larger footprint vs. Moxie, and cites asymmetricinfo's point that people who blithely blow-dry hair or make tea panic about AI electricity. A follow-up estimates that per future user, a training run's emissions are roughly like manufacturing one physical CD. He says this reframes data-center gas buildout as responding to real demand rather than individual excess.
Related event: Commentator argues AI energy use per user is as modest as making one CD(2 posts)→
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