Deploying high-performance, energy-efficient AI

Although AI is by no means a new technology there have been massive and rapid investments in it and large language models. However, the high-performance computing that powers these rapidly growing AI tools -- and enables record automation and operational efficiency -- also consumes a staggering amount of energy. With the proliferation of AI comes the responsibility to deploy that AI responsibly and with an eye to sustainability during hardware and software R&D as well as within data centers. "Enterprises need to be very aware of the energy consumption of their digital technologies, how big it is, and how their decisions are affecting it," says corporate vice president and general manager of data center platform engineering and architecture at Intel, Zane Ball. One of the key drivers of a more sustainable AI is modularity, says Ball. Modularity breaks down subsystems of a server into standard building blocks, defining interfaces between those blocks so they can work together.