Artwork 03 · The Physical Cost of AI
Out of View
Image 1 of 3: Water: a woman in a white jumper sits on the floor with a laptop, cables around her, in front of a wall drawing of a building with cooling units and a large patch of blue water.
We know that AI has a physical cost. Somewhere, it takes electricity, water and land. But we rarely see it. How much do we think about it while we work? If that cost were as present as the image on our screen, or reflected in the price we pay, would we use AI differently? For now, it stays out of view. Growing use puts more pressure on physical resources, while more efficient tools and applications of AI may help reduce some of those demands. Which way it goes is still open.
The artwork speaks
Reality SignalIf the digital world keeps growing, how much physical space will its future need?
How this was made
Tools used
- Midjourney
- Generated the images.
- Claude Code
- Helped develop the concept and the prompts.