Search found 1178 matches
- Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:29 pm
- Forum: Energy & the Environment
- Topic: Electricity consumption is climbing again
- Replies: 3
- Views: 608
Re: Electricity consumption is climbing again
It's fascinating and a bit scary to see how long-running trends like this that shape our expectations about the future can stop or reverse so quickly. Additionally, in just the last four years, the assumption that there would never be another major war in Europe and that inflation had been forever ...
- Wed Mar 20, 2024 3:27 pm
- Forum: Energy & the Environment
- Topic: Electricity consumption is climbing again
- Replies: 3
- Views: 608
Electricity consumption is climbing again
From 2001 - 2021, energy consumption in the U.S. was flat overall, leading to predictions that energy consumption would start a long decline thanks to further efficiency improvements. This, in turn, was good news for environmentalists, since it made carbon emission reduction goals feasible. However,...
- Tue Mar 19, 2024 3:28 pm
- Forum: Energy & the Environment
- Topic: AGI's uncertain effects on human wages and employment
- Replies: 0
- Views: 444
AGI's uncertain effects on human wages and employment
This NBER paper, "Scenarios for the transition to AGI", was just published and contains very fascinating conclusions: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32255/w32255.pdf Using different sets of equally plausible assumptions about the capabilities of AGIs and constraints on e...
- Sun Mar 17, 2024 4:38 pm
- Forum: Energy & the Environment
- Topic: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions
- Replies: 667
- Views: 899042
Re: Energy & the Environment News and Discussions
Here's a failed energy prediction from 18 months ago. Of course, it’s not the rich countries of North America and northern Europe that will suffer the most through the energy crisis, whether this year or next. This energy crisis is global. Already poorer countries are facing blackouts, protests, and...
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:49 pm
- Forum: Culture, Economics & Politics of the Future
- Topic: 2050 predictions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11508
Re: 2050 predictions
-I think some kind of American secession crisis before this date is entirely possible. I can't really see how a civil war would work, though I confess I'm no expert on the subject. As an American, I think the likeliest cause would be a disputed election result. Imagine a replay of the 2020 election...
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:36 pm
- Forum: Culture, Economics & Politics of the Future
- Topic: 2050 predictions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11508
Re: 2050 predictions
How 2050 will be different from today: -Plausible (40%+ chance) that true AGI will exist. -Even if AGI has not yet been invented, narrow AIs will be vastly better than they are today and will perform countless niche tasks better and cheaper than humans. Many of them will be paired with robot bodies....
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:08 pm
- Forum: Culture, Economics & Politics of the Future
- Topic: 2050 predictions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11508
Re: 2050 predictions
By 2050, non-Hispanic whites will become a minority in the U.S.
https://apnews.com/article/growth-popul ... ba5d7cdade
https://apnews.com/article/growth-popul ... ba5d7cdade
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:02 pm
- Forum: Culture, Economics & Politics of the Future
- Topic: 2050 predictions
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11508
Re: 2050 predictions
Assuming the singularity isn't happening, with or without AGI a lot of the world will start looking more like this including now developed nations. AGI alone will not stop the ecological crises, that's something we as people have to desire to do, especially if we misalign AGI's priorities and feed ...
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 2:58 pm
- Forum: Introductions
- Topic: Hello, I'm John Meeks from California.
- Replies: 6
- Views: 880
- Tue Mar 12, 2024 11:55 pm
- Forum: Computers & the Internet
- Topic: Why not use a server to heat the water in your house?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 27033
Re: Why not use a server to heat the water in your house?
To elaborate on the idea, heat generated by the servers would first be shunted into a district heating network to heat nearby support buildings and worker housing. The remainder would be pumped back into the river. I envision mini towns built around data centers, their accompanying power plants, and...