Quantum Computing Is Being Pitched as the Fix for AI's Runaway Power Appetite

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Can quantum computing save artificial intelligence from itself? The energy and water needs of the AI sector are growing larger all the time, placing enormous pressure on the…

Haley Zaremba is an energy journalist and researcher with more than a decade of professional experience covering global energy systems, land and natural resources, and…

Can quantum computing save artificial intelligence from itself? The energy and water needs of the AI sector are growing larger all the time, placing enormous pressure on the world’s finite resources and putting unprecedented strain on global energy grids. There is no closing Pandora’s box: AI is here to stay. So how do we change its functionality to keep its operations and growth projections within planetary boundaries? Some experts say that quantum computing could hold the key.

According to figures from the International Energy Agency, global electricity generation to supply data centres is expected to grow from 460 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to over 1,000 TWh in 2030, and then 1,300 TWh in 2035. That’s the equivalent of adding a whole other Germany to the global power demand by 2024. Under this scenario, by 2030 the world’s data centers alone will be consuming more than all of Russia – the fourth largest energy consumer in the world at 1,176.11 TWh per year.

"One of the reasons the next generations of AI are looking to consume so much power is that a whole class of the problems they are solving are problems that really are much better suited to quantum calculations," Andrew Dzurak, founder of an Australian quantum startup called Diraq, recently told AFP.

Quantum technologies aren’t yet ready for real-world application, but Dzurak says they will be in just a handful of years. His company is currently conducting the world's first field test of a quantum computer in a data center application in Sydney. Building on that work, Dzurak says that quantum computing is already evolving out of lab settings and “will be ready to lift the burden in data centers within five years” according to Phys.org.

To be sure, quantum computing requires a significant amount of energy to run, and most models require extremely…

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