Keynote by Sebastian Schrittwieser on AI and Sustainability
Sebastian Schrittwieser, key researcher at SBA Research, will give a keynote talk on “AI and Sustainability” at the University of Vienna on April 16.
© Niklas Schnaubelt
He will talk about generative AI models like OpenAI’s GPT which deliver impressive results, but every response comes at a real energy cost. Training and operating these large language models require massive amounts of electricity, specialized hardware, and cooling.
This talk gives a clear overview of the hidden resource demands behind AI: from the energy consumed during training to the electricity used for each user query, including carbon emissions and water usage at scale. It also compares cloud-based APIs with self-hosted open-source models, looking at costs, performance, scalability, and environmental impact. The goal is to provide a realistic picture of AI’s resource footprint and practical options for using it more responsibly.