{"id":260277,"date":"2025-07-13T00:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T00:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/260277\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T00:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T00:36:11","slug":"no-limit-to-chatgpt-searches-remarkable-given-environmental-impact-tim-peake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/260277\/","title":{"rendered":"No limit to ChatGPT searches \u2018remarkable\u2019 given environmental impact \u2013 Tim Peake"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Astronaut Tim Peake<\/a> says it is \u201cremarkable\u201d that there is no limit on ChatGPT<\/a> searches, and that space holds \u201cmany answers\u201d to the climate crisis, at Goodwood Festival of Speed.<\/p>\n

Shielded from the midday blazing heat and the roar of motor cars in a darkened tent, Future Lab displayed technologies, robotics and virtual realities to excite the imaginations of festival goers in Chichester<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Among the displays was a humanoid robot, with moving, re-active facial features powered by ChatGPT responses, creators call it Ameca.<\/p>\n

Major Peake, the first British<\/a> man to visit the International Space Station, has worked with Future Lab since its first iteration in 2017.<\/p>\n

Despite his excitement about the new technologies and possible uses of artificial intelligence (AI), he acknowledged the environmental impact of data centres used to run them.<\/p>\n

He told the PA news agency: \u201cThere is no limit to how much they can use ChatGPT, they can be streaming cat videos and making avatars and doing what they want with no \u2013 no concern of how much energy that is using and how much water is using to cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s limitless, and it shouldn\u2019t be. Every single google search is having an impact, and an AI google search is a 30% increase in energy to function than a standard Google search and you don\u2019t even get the choice now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech companies have hugely increased their water consumption needs for cooling data centres in recent years, according to The Times, writing one 100 word email using the (GP-4) version of the chatbot is equivalent to a 500ml water bottle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe that\u2019s what we need next to the google search box \u2013 \u2018please search responsibly\u2019,\u201d the former astronaut added.<\/p>\n

Business Energy UK has estimated that ChatGPT may presently use around 39.98 Million kWh per day \u2014 enough to charge eight million phones.<\/p>\n

Major Peake was quick to argue that the answers lie in space, using \u201corbital data centres\u201d, he added that he was working with a company, Axium Space, who were set to launch two nodes later this year.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cThe idea being that by the mid-2030s you have cost-parity between choosing an Orbital data centre vs a cloud server \u2013 you know, a database that would be here on earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause in space you\u2019ve got clean, free limitless energy and you\u2019ve got limitless ability to have thermal rejection into the vacuum of space with no impact on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics of this approach, such as Dr Domenico Vicinanza \u2013 associate professor of intelligent systems and data science at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, say it may not be that simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace-based data centres would require not only the data equipment but also the infrastructure to protect, power, and cool them. All of which add up in weight and complexity,\u201d Dr Vicinanza told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Asked about space and the environment, Major Peake said: \u201cIt might not hold all the answers but it holds many answers and it forms a large percentage of the solution I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of right now, more than 50% of our climate data is coming from space so it\u2019s the finger on the pulse of the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The displays at Future Lab presented a window into the cutting edge of science, mapping deep space, exploring the depths of the ocean, and the latest AI and robotics.<\/p>\n

The CEO<\/a> of the National Robotarium, Stuart Miller, said the event \u201chelped people understand what\u2019s coming\u201d and added that they wanted to ask how robots and humans can \u201clive in harmony together\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ameca, the humanoid robot created by Cornwall-based company Engineered Arts, was the star attraction for many \u2013 able to hold and double back to parts of a conversation and answer questions quickly.<\/p>\n

Major Peake said: \u201cHer non-verbal responses really surprised me, and then you realise that\u2019s AI\u2019s interpretation of human interaction as well so it\u2019s not just the verbal responses you\u2019re getting, you\u2019re getting the AI response in terms of non-verbal skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surrounded by cars, in a corner of a field in Chichester, some of the UK\u2019s newest scientific innovations piqued the interest of the crowds, but Major Peake acknowledged there has to be \u201ca balance\u201d in how much AI should do, and considered whether it erodes human curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is absolutely a balance and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important to educate people that AI\u2019s just a tool \u2013 a tool for humans to use.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Later asking: \u201cDoes ChatGPT, does AI just make it too easy for us? Does it just give it to us rather than making us work for it? And how much pleasure is there in actually finding something out rather than just reading and learning something?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3163],"tags":[323,1942,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-260277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114843129132548082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}