No limit to ChatGPT searches ‘remarkable' given environmental impact
Among the displays was a humanoid robot, with moving, re-active facial features powered by ChatGPT responses, creators call it Ameca.
Major Peake, the first British man to visit the International Space Station, has worked with Future Lab since its first iteration in 2017.
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.
He told the PA news agency: 'There 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 – no concern of how much energy that is using and how much water is using to cool.
'It's limitless, and it shouldn't 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't even get the choice now.'
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.
'Maybe that's what we need next to the google search box – 'please search responsibly',' the former astronaut added.
Business Energy UK has estimated that ChatGPT may presently use around 39.98 Million kWh per day — enough to charge eight million phones.
Major Peake was quick to argue that the answers lie in space, using 'orbital data centres', he added that he was working with a company, Axium Space, who were set to launch two nodes later this year.
He explained: 'The idea being that by the mid-2030s you have cost-parity between choosing an Orbital data centre vs a cloud server – you know, a database that would be here on earth.
'Because in space you've got clean, free limitless energy and you've got limitless ability to have thermal rejection into the vacuum of space with no impact on the environment.'
Critics of this approach, such as Dr Domenico Vicinanza – associate professor of intelligent systems and data science at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, say it may not be that simple.
'Space-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,' Dr Vicinanza told the BBC.
Asked about space and the environment, Major Peake said: 'It might not hold all the answers but it holds many answers and it forms a large percentage of the solution I think.
'In terms of right now, more than 50% of our climate data is coming from space so it's the finger on the pulse of the planet.'
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.
The CEO of the National Robotarium, Stuart Miller, said the event 'helped people understand what's coming' and added that they wanted to ask how robots and humans can 'live in harmony together'.
Ameca, the humanoid robot created by Cornwall-based company Engineered Arts, was the star attraction for many – able to hold and double back to parts of a conversation and answer questions quickly.
Major Peake said: 'Her non-verbal responses really surprised me, and then you realise that's AI's interpretation of human interaction as well so it's not just the verbal responses you're getting, you're getting the AI response in terms of non-verbal skills.'
Surrounded by cars, in a corner of a field in Chichester, some of the UK's newest scientific innovations piqued the interest of the crowds, but Major Peake acknowledged there has to be 'a balance' in how much AI should do, and considered whether it erodes human curiosity.
'There is absolutely a balance and that's why it's important to educate people that AI's just a tool – a tool for humans to use.' he said.
Later asking: 'Does 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?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Monmouthshire Upcycle celebrates ten years in Chepstow
Chepstow is home to a vibrant upcycling initiative led by Monmouthshire Upcycle, a charitable project operated by the Forest Upcycling Project. Located at Station Yard Industrial Estate, next to the town's railway station, the site is an Aladdin's cave,not just of trinkets and bric-a-brac, but of solid furniture and practical goods. The busy hub runs vans for free removals of unwanted household furniture and offers affordable moving services. The reuse facility transforms donated items such as furniture, appliances, books, and more, into affordable goods for the community. It reduces waste while providing employment and training opportunities for those in need of a new start, work experience or just people with time to spare who want to help build and help communities. Speaking about the project's vision, founder Matt Jones said: 'We believe in second chances, not just for furniture, but for people and futures.' Locals can donate unwanted items or purchase refurbished ones at a fraction of the original cost. From wardrobes and lamps to kitchen tables and baby goods, the selection is wide-ranging and constantly evolving. Delivery services make sustainable living even more accessible. Mechanic led police on 'erratic' high-speed chase and stole petrol from garages 'Pioneering' charity founder steps down after more than 30 years of involvement Beyond retail, Chepstow's upcycling efforts promote circular economy values. The project's expansion reflects growing demand and community support, proving that sustainability and compassion go hand in hand. As Matt puts it: 'The more money we make, the more people we can employ.' Staff and volunteers are a vibrant, creative bunch. The on-site café hosts a Repair Café on the first Friday of each month, where locals bring broken items and volunteers help fix them, keeping goods out of landfill and building connections. At the heart of the café is Natalia Lutiaenko, a Ukrainian refugee from Odessa who's been in the UK for three years. She's managed the café for 18 months and also works in a local school. With fellow Ukrainian Liliya Onopa, Natalia now serves traditional dishes like borscht, plov, varenyky, and holubtsi on-site. She jokes: 'All you need to know, pre-Google, is don't eat borscht while wearing a white top.' She loves British humour—especially Philomena Cunk—and fondly recalls how warmly she and her children were welcomed by a British family and the happy way of life here. Joining them is retired teacher and ceramicist Mariam Eastwood: 'I retired to become my late mother's carer. As a neurodiverse person, there was no pressure here—it was so welcoming. I was dealing with grief, and this place helped. After that, I was asked if I wanted a job' What began in Chepstow has now grown into a cross-border concern, with outlets in Cwmbran, Cinderford, and Swindon.
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Amazon Prime fans beat the heat and binge ‘best sci-fi series in years'
Amazon Prime Video fans have turned to one 'one of the best Sci-Fi shows' in a long time to beat the heat this summer. Ascension, which first aired in 2014 with six 45-minute episodes, has shot up the rankings on the streaming platform in recent weeks. The synopsis on Prime reads: 'In 1963, the U.S. government launched a covert space mission sending hundreds of men, women and children on a century-long voyage aboard the starship Ascension to populate a new world. 'Nearly 50 years into the journey, as they approach the point of no return, a mysterious murder of a young woman causes the ship's population to question the true nature of their mission.' Despite having just a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Ascension has delighted fans, with more people discovering the show in the years since it aired. 'One of the very best Sci-Fi shows I've seen in years. Every episode changes what you think is going on and reveals another layer,' wrote James Newton in a Google review. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video He added: 'It does veer into fantasy a bit at the end, and possibly religion (but not in the traditional sense) but the bulk of the show is so good, it more than makes up for the ending.' Another user, ömer ünal, compared it to The Truman Show, insisting while there were some 'good sociology ideas', they 'probably wouldn't have worked out that way'. They added: 'Vintage look is awesome. Acting… not good in total, but most series are that way anyway. Should have had a second season. I liked it.' Plenty of fans complained that the show ended without a satisfying ending, with Brian Schmidt warning in his Google review: 'Be careful… don't be like me and not know that they did not finish the series. 'It is a show that grabs your attention, and each episode leaves you wanting the next. The idea and premise of the show is very interesting. Again, be careful if you start, you won't stop until there is no more and you will be wanting more!' User Chris Hanna praised the show as a 'great series', however, but said they were 'very sad' there was only six episodes, given the 'interesting' subplots, adding: 'Great to watch… when you just want to vedge. (sic)' Another fan, with the username Just Me, was furious at being 'left hanging', as they urged someone to give the show new life. 'I think they should bring it back and at least finish out the series. Give us an ending,' they said. 'We need answers. So many shows have just stopped and left us all hanging in mid air.' Sadly, in 2015 SyFy made it clear they would not be making any more new episodes. They said at the time: 'We were very happy with Ascension as an event series, but with so much high profile development in the works, we have decided not to pursue a full series.' More Trending Ascension starred Battlestar Galactica actress Tricia Helfer as power broker Viondra Denninger, and Brian Von Holt as Viondra's husband Captain William Denninger. Gil Bellows played Harris Enzmann, son of Ascension mission founder Abraham Enzmann, while Rescue Me's Andrea Roth appeared as the ship's chief medical officer Dr. Juliet Bryce. This article was first published on April 28. View More » Ascension is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: WWE fans raging over icon's 'disgraceful' retirement speech after 28-year career MORE: Grammy-winning singer carried out of arena after getting 'knocked loose' by WWE star MORE: Amazon Prime adds 'worst movie ever made' with a surprisingly good cast
The National
9 hours ago
- The National
UK politicians are in the pockets of the rich. Is that democracy?
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer responded to a question from Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay about growing calls to introduce a tax on wealth for the super-rich – those with assets above £10 million – by saying he wouldn't 'take advice' from the Greens, and insisting that 'we can't just tax our way to growth'. We can, it seems, cut our way to growth though, as long as it's those already at the greatest risk of poverty who'll bear the brunt. On Wednesday evening, 333 Labour MPs voted to cut disability benefits by £2 billion per year, halving the health element of universal credit for new claimants, and cutting it altogether for new claimants aged under 22. At a certain point, when the faces and the colour of the rosettes change but the glaring injustices remain the same, we have to ask ourselves why. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Image: Yui Mok) A common refrain among politicians is that right-wing policies that make life harder for social security claimants – or immigrants, or any other marginalised group – are popular. So popular that they have no choice but to implement them with gusto, because that's the will of the people, I guess. Meanwhile, I suppose we are to imagine that the average British voter is kept up at night worrying about the prospect of millionaires and billionaires being asked to pay more into our public services. As Tory leader Kemi Badenoch put it at PMQs, a wealth tax would be 'a tax on all of our constituents' savings, their houses, their pensions'. Who among us doesn't know and love someone with more than £10m in assets lying around? And surely we can all agree that they're the real victims? Back in the real world, a YouGov poll last week found that 75% of people in the UK would support introducing a wealth tax of 2% on wealth above £10m. Earlier this year, YouGov conducted another poll on behalf of Oxfam which found that 79% of over 16s in Scotland would rather the government tax the richest than make cuts to public spending. (Image: YouGov) And while it's true that some voters do believe that the welfare system is too generous, and the immigrants are draining the country of resources, it's important to remember that large sections of the British media, with their own vested interests, have spent not years but decades pushing precisely this narrative. It's disingenuous at best to persuade someone of something and then behave as though it was their idea all along. Alongside campaign groups Tax Justice UK and Patriotic Millionaires UK, Oxfam identified that the government could raise up to £24bn per year through a wealth tax which would apply to only 0.04% of the population. At the same time, charities and experts from across the UK and beyond – extending to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – have highlighted the damage that cuts to social security could cause to people's ability to make ends meet or simply live with dignity. So, if it's not the electorate telling politicians which policies to pursue, and it's not the data or the impassioned pleas of experts that persuade them, then what is it that drives them to make these decisions? READ MORE: Mark Brown: Why I plan to join Scotland's new radical left party Surely the answer is obvious by now. Time and again, right-wing and supposedly centrist politicians prove that nothing matters to them than the feelings of their rich donors and supporters – and nothing matters more to those wealthy individuals and large corporations than money. Successive governments' inaction on a range of urgent issues – from climate change, to energy prices, to raising taxes to fund crumbling public services – becomes far easier to understand once you realise that standing up to behemoth corporations and their numerous beneficiaries could cost these politicians dearly. If power for power's sake is the goal, if fuelling the party machine with big donations is a worthwhile end in and of itself, and if securing oneself a cushy position after – or perhaps during – your time in office is the ultimate prize, then making an enemy out of the 1% is a senseless endeavour. The dramatic decline in political party membership numbers over the past several decades mean that parties have become more and more reliant on a small pool of wealthy donors. Analysis by the Electoral Reform Society found that, during the 2024 election campaign, Labour received £6.7m from 'mega-donors', which made up 68.5% of their total donations up to polling day. This equates to 42 times the amount they took from the same type of donors during the 2019 election campaign. David Lammy secured a personal donor a job at the Foreign Office (Image: PA) When we ask ourselves how it is that the Labour Party have sold out on so many principles in such a short period of time, the answer is in the question. What chance does the average person – or community – stand to have their voice heard and acted upon by those in power while principles and policies are being sold to the highest bidder? Just last week, it was revealed by the Democracy for Sale substack that Foreign Secretary David Lammy gave a taxpayer-funded job in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to the former UK president of multinational PR company WPP after she donated £5000 to his office ahead of the election. This is only the latest in a series of jobs for donors that Labour have been scrutinised over. Under the ideal of democracy which we are encouraged to believe the UK represents, every eligible voter should have an equal say in elections and, by extension, an equal opportunity to have a say in the decisions the elected parliament makes. How far must our political leaders stray from this principle before we recognise that we are no longer ruled by democracy but plutocracy: a society controlled by people with great wealth or income? Consider that the UK's 50 richest families hold more wealth than 50% of the population, according to analysis from the Equality Trust. And while the top 20% hold 63% of the UK's wealth, the bottom fifth have only 0.5% of the wealth. READ MORE: The best way to defeat Reform UK? Expose the gaping holes in their politics Polls might show that the vast majority of the British public want to see the wealthy taxed more, but to imagine that this information would seize the Prime Minister with an urgency to act would be to believe that all views, experiences, voices or lives are equal. You only need to look at how this government – the progressive alternative to the old government – treats the most vulnerable to know that isn't true, not under this system. As long as money talks and those without are silenced, most of us will be out here screaming into the void. In case that seems too bleak a note to end on, a reminder: it doesn't have to be this way. Just look at the growing fervency with which the Tories and now Labour have sought to quash dissent through the criminalisation of peaceful protest, and the proscription of activist groups they don't like as terrorists. Even the frantic efforts of the Government to censor a rap group, Kneecap, over political statements is revealing. These are the actions of power under threat. They are terrified of ordinary people speaking their minds and telling them in no uncertain terms that enough is enough. That, alone, should act as motivation to keep doing just that.
