We barely notice it, but algorithms run and rule our lives. Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, from the bedroom where you sleep to the car you drive; every tiny fragment of your daily routine has some AI intervention.

Scientists believe the human brain is hardwired for laziness, and our latent tendency to sloth paradoxically became one of the main driving forces towards humanity’s technological evolution.

“Conserving energy has been essential for humans’ survival, as it allowed us to be more efficient in searching for food and shelter, competing for sexual partners, and avoiding predators,” — Boisgontier in “Avoiding sedentary behaviors requires more cortical resources than avoiding physical activity: An EEG study”

That explains the exponential increase in machine-learning capabilities. Thinking is a tiresome thing for the average human. The world has reached such a state of mathematical complexity that it has outgrown our thinking effort capabilities, and we have to rely on machines to do a great deal of the hard labor.

Notwithstanding, we’ve barely scratched the tip of the AI iceberg and started exploring what may become one of the most game-changing creations of humanity yet.

However, exponential AI growth comes at a price, and for now, the main issue is energy consumption. AI companies and Bitcoin mining firms have one thing in common — they need powerful computing equipment to run their business, and this means that the demand for new machines is currently outpacing supply and production.

“Bitcoin is a techno tour de force.” — Bill Gates

Digital coins are currently a profitable business where crypto-zealots, traders, and brokers can rapidly scale their investments. The turn of the century unleashed all the crypto-bots out of the crypto-exchanging Pandora’s box.

Mining firms have wiped out the human factor from their crypto-vaults. All interaction becomes mechanized as computers run the show from top to bottom, channelizing and monitoring the flow of resources over the world wide web.

The crypto-trading playing field is out of our intellectual league. The number of calculations ran daily is mind-blowing. AI and machine learning are critical factors in that game. Thus, we need to consider how data about all bitcoin is distributed and interlinked worldwide in a computer network known as the blockchain.

Nowadays, the so-called “mining rigs” are responsible for all the necessary computations required by the crypto market. These integrated computer systems perform the calculations needed for “mining.”

Hence, these “mining machines” use up an enormous amount of power to analyze vast streams of randomized data at high speed while being accurate at the same time.

A standard supercomputer has a voracious appetite for electrical power. To make it worst, the subproduct of all that energy consumption is a tremendous amount of heat, which again requires additional power for cooling systems.

AI’s technological evolution demands petascale computers to be replaced by massive exascale computing systems shortly; thus, supercomputers are getting greener to match energy-efficient requirements.

On the other hand, mining rigs are increasingly relying on refurbished obsolete equipment rather than state-of-the-art machines. Miner hosting firms still make huge profits out of old and less eco-friendly rigs.

Cambridge University’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates that Bitcoin alone consumes as much electricity as a medium-sized European country like Sweden. Moreover, looking at the startling data here, Bitcoin power consumption went through the roof during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Only when the last fish is gone, the last river poisoned, the last tree cut down…will mankind realize they cannot eat money.”― Greenpeace

Cryptocurrency mining companies, unfortunately, are doing the opposite. Bitcoin has become the elephant in the room, as high demand for mining machines created a global shortage of equipment, prices escalated to ludicrous figures.

Hence, instead of buying new and more energy-efficient machines for their large data-centers, mining companies are looking for secondary, or worst, refurbished equipment that doesn’t meet the required energy-efficiency criteria.

It’s undeniable that Bitcoin has a high carbon footprint. Greenpeace USA was one of the first organizations to accept Bitcoin donations. However, following Tesla’s decision to move away from accepting cryptocurrency for payments, the environmentalist organization has also backed away from Bitcoin.

Travis Nichols, Greenpeace USA’s Media Director, explains in an official statement: “Greenpeace USA never received a significant number of these donations, and as the amount of energy needed to run Bitcoin became clearer, this policy became no longer tenable. Greenpeace USA has stopped accepting these donations.”

When interviewed by the Cointelegraph, Nichols noted that “only a fifth of the electricity used in the world’s data centers currently comes from renewable sources.” Hence, financial and technological growth while keeping up with sustainability directives is the biggest challenge for cryptocurrency.

“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” — Elon Musk

The world doesn’t need to go paranoid around a hostile AI takeover scenario as depicted by pop culture in Terminator or more recently in HBO’s Westworld.

However, AI is undoubtedly on the rise, and nothing can hinder that exponential growth. AI systems are everywhere, helping move around billions of dollars in financial assets.

Cryptocurrency companies are just starting to pay the price, and they cannot keep falling behind on the technological playing field just because they can still profit from worn-out machines.

The blockchain needs to become increasingly eco-friendly. Mining firms have to open their large pockets and invest in greener, more environmental-friendly technology if they want to stay in business.

We cannot regulate mining; hence we need more playmakers like Elon Musk to come forward and actively take a stand towards a greener blockchain. We need to predict what lies underneath the tip of the iceberg and how it will impact our lives in the future.

Finally, if we must sacrifice our planet’s natural resources to the gods of Bitcoin, someone has to answer Steve Eisman ultimate question about cryptocurrency:

What value does cryptocurrency add?

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Source: https://medium.com/predict/the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-and-bitcoins-downfall-f37583169bb8?source=rss——-8—————–cryptocurrency