Post B5Z7RHqIH9oqlyS9aa by gfaster@tilde.zone
 (DIR) More posts by gfaster@tilde.zone
 (DIR) Post #B5Z55zEE5SyN3LMYd6 by enigmatico@mk.absturztau.be
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       There was a video talking about how AI techbros are saving tokens by talking to the LLMs like cavemen (because that's what techbros are, cavemen). I put a comment saying "My preferred way to save money in tokens is by not using AI at all. 0 tokens, $0. And you don't waste any energy in slop.".Someone actually replied. They said, "Sound like the ones who cry about gas vehicles, over here worried about “energy” that’s going to used at the same rate regardless".Of course I nerded out.First of all, if we are talking about electricity (because of the data centers), electricity is not energy. Electricity CARRIES energy. When the electrons have to jump out from one point of another in the circuit, they perform what is called "work". This work, which by the way is measured in volts, is the amount of energy carried by the current. The more volts, the more energy. And even this is a very simplistic way to look at it, but there are thousands of books about the physics of electronics so go grab one from your preferred shadow library if you want to know more.Two, if we are talking about energy, the amount of energy used by a gas vehicle and an electrical vehicle, or a fuel (gasoline) vehicle, IS THE SAME. I guess whoever posted this calls gasoline 'gas' because that's how it's called in the US, there are gas powered vehicles (As in actual gas). Technically it's not the same because of how the engine converts the fuel into energy, there are some loses there and in the transmission and everything but theoretically in order to push a vehicle at X Km/h (using SI units and not imperial) at the same road (same composition), under the same weather conditions and with the same tyre composition, and same weight, it's the same amount of energy. That's why cars measure their engine power in HP. Same amount of work generated by a horse.Third... I don't give a fuck. I'd rather spend that electricity in actual electric cars, than wasting it in generating slop. Period.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5Z7RHqIH9oqlyS9aa by gfaster@tilde.zone
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @enigmatico The energy used in electric and gasoline vehicles are not the same though, that "technically" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.A casual search gives 20-40% efficiency of ICE vehicles and around 75% efficiency for electric (as measured by how much energy is lost as heat, so this does not include power generation for the electric vehicle). It would be correct to say that both ICE and electric vehicles do the same amount of work, but they absolutely do not use the same amount of energy.
       
 (DIR) Post #B5Z7RI8NBwHTg2ualk by enigmatico@mk.absturztau.be
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @gfaster@tilde.zone As I said, there are some losses in real life. It is the same assuming 100% efficiency (no losses) and exact same conditions. But that is in theory. Obviously in real life there are going to be many losses and not all engines work the same so in practice it's not, but regardless of the efficiency and the losses, the amount of energy required to move an object of the same mass, with the same drag force, the same wind direction and speed, and same conditions in general is the same no matter what engine you use. Well, you could also argue that the engine adds weight to the vehicle as well.