So... these guys are mining bitcoin, right?
from umbrellacloud@leminal.space to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 12 Dec 08:39
https://leminal.space/post/29640116

It doesn’t take that much energy and power to run an LLM or an image generator, and sure, it would take a lot with so many users connecting, across so many servers… but there’s just no way they’re not mining bitcoin. My math might not be mathing but it seems like AI doesn’t justify the power use and it seems like everybody’s lying.

Someone who knows more about this inform me of your opinions

#nostupidquestions

threaded - newest

deafboy@lemmy.world on 12 Dec 17:56 next collapse

always ask:

  1. How many people would have to be in on it?
  2. How likely is it for everybody to keep the secret?
howrar@lemmy.ca on 12 Dec 23:40 collapse

And also ask: do they gain anything from lying about it?

umbrellacloud@leminal.space on 13 Dec 02:35 collapse

I mean… yeah. It’s always beneficial for people not to know how much money one has… I can’t really imagine a situation where it wouldn’t be.

Nollij@sopuli.xyz on 12 Dec 22:22 collapse

Bitcoin mining doesn’t normally use GPUs. They use dedicated ASICs. Far more effective, and cheaper in every way.

In addition, AI is in the “growth at any cost” phase. There is a TON of investor money to burn, with little need to show future profitability.

umbrellacloud@leminal.space on 13 Dec 00:41 collapse

If that’s the case, why don’t they pull the Renaissance artist scam and just take a bunch of money and swear they’re working on stuff? If they don’t have to prove anything, why use any energy at all?

Nollij@sopuli.xyz on 13 Dec 14:51 collapse

Little need, but not no need. They need to have a vague path, and something to show for it.

umbrellacloud@leminal.space on 13 Dec 19:16 collapse

A vague path and something to show for it means using a bunch of energy for something they’re not even really doing…?