No. of Recommendations: 3
One key difference in comparing the transition from horses to cars (and the necessary car/truck infrastructure e.g. roads to support it), to the development of the new "AI" (and the computing/datacenter infrastructure to support it), is that cars/trucks were more efficient than horses, to the tune of hundreds of horsepower packed into the space of a few horses. Also, as the efficiency of internal combustion engines increased, the need for road infrastructure still remained.
Current neural net "AI's" implementations, with their huge computing and data center power needs, are horribly inefficient compared to the human brain operating at 20 watts.
IMO, for whatever that's worth, theoretical advances in neural networks over the next ten years will obviate the need for huge computing and data centers. In contrast, efficiency developments in internal combustion engines didn't obviate the need for road infrastructure. Also, as mentioned, there are other routes to "AI" such as brain organoids in a dish, that are being developed.
The key number to remember when considering what power is needed to compute like a human is 20 watts.
Fusion power is an interesting thought. Perhaps it might lead to fueling super human computing power.
Anyway, it's just my opinion: I think these huge computing data centers will become like dead shopping malls within ten years, i.e. huge white dead elephants that no one knows what to do with their (expensive) corpses.
