Usamah Sedqi Al-Baik أسامة صدقي البيك

In October 2023, almost one year after generative AI entered the mainstream conversation, I wrote an article titled “ Leveraging Generative AI in Education: A Balanced Perspective. ” At that time, the debate around tools such as ChatGPT was still relatively new. The central question was simple: should educators allow generative AI in classrooms, or should they prohibit it? My position then was that the answer could not be a simple yes or no. I argued that generative AI was a double-edged sword. On one side, it could help students improve writing, language, research, and learning support. It could also help teachers reduce some repetitive tasks and provide more personalized guidance. On the other side, it raised legitimate concerns around cheating, overdependence, and the weakening of authentic student skills. My recommendation at the time was not to ban AI blindly, but to govern its use carefully. I suggested four practical principles: clear communication, scope limi...

I remain broadly optimistic about progress in artificial intelligence. The models are improving, adoption is expanding, and the economic potential is still enormous. But recently my concern has shifted. The most serious near-term constraint on AI may not be whether models can become smarter. It may be whether we can supply enough electricity to run them. The irony is hard to miss. For years, the AI debate focused on algorithms, chips, talent, regulation, and safety. Yet the next major bottleneck may be much more physical: power plants, transformers, transmission lines, substations, permits, and grid connections. In 2024, Leopold Aschenbrenner’s widely discussed AI forecast imagined a rapid escalation in compute infrastructure: gigawatt-scale clusters by the middle of the decade, 10-gigawatt clusters later in the decade, and eventually 100-gigawatt clusters by around 2030. A 100 GW load, if run continuously, would consume 876 TWh per year—an amount approaching twice Germany...