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AI needs $6T in annual revenue to justify data centre boom

222 points · 335 comments · Betelbuddy

  1. vdombr · · focus · HN ↗
    It's been almost half a year since we got powerful enough models, and I'm wondering, where are all those great things that were created with them? Maybe it's just me, but nothing has changed in my life so far. No improvements, but definitely, I need to be more careful when reading, listening, watching, and using things, as bad quality slowly creeps everywhere.
    1. fwlr · · focus · HN ↗
      I suspect the plan is not “make 6T revenue by having AI add >6T value in new and improved software”, but rather it is more like “make 6T in revenue by having AI substitute for ~6T cost or human labor”.
      1. Ferret7446 · · focus · HN ↗
        Not true due to induced demand. Traffic increases when more lanes are added to a highway. The alternative to $200 in AI costs is not $20,000 in labor costs. The alternative is nothing because the work was never worth $20,000. So the AI did not eliminate $20,000 worth of hypothetical labor.

        AI creates demand for things that didn't exist previously

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