Frugal AI - how one UK university is laying the foundations to tackle AI’s environmental problems

But there are other problems too. These include high levels of water and energy usage, not least in relation to the training and use of large language models. As a result, data centers may only consume 1.5% of the world’s electricity today. But by the end of the decade, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects this figure to more than double to 945 TWh as AI adoption rises.

Understanding Frugal AI

To try and address these thorny issues, work is currently taking place in the form of ‘Frugal AI”, a set of principles that are intended to provide a possible solution. The notion stems from the concept of ‘Frugal Engineering’, a term coined and approach adopted by Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, in 2006. He had been impressed by the ability of his Indian engineers to innovate more quickly and cost-effectively than those elsewhere ...