Dr. Patricia Scanlon:

There is so much we do not know about it. When people discuss this, I like to try to point out that there are a couple of different aspects of data centres. There are data centres that store cat videos. The billions of dollars and the amount of energy poured into training the LLMs is very different to inference, which is what is used when using ChatGPT either for business or for personal use. We could decide not to put anything on the island and only ever use France's data centres but that might compromise us in the future when it comes to FDI investment. In Ireland, do we want to depend on other countries for our sources of data centres? We have had a strategy of data centres here. I will say it over and over again that it is not an easy thing to balance. The important thing is that we figure out how to balance the commercial interests for Ireland, such as jobs in the future, in order not to lose them to France or Scandinavia, which are becoming AI hubs. We want to stay competitive.

We do not have all the answers. We are just advising. There is a climate risk to the world globally when it comes to data centres, whether they are inference training or not. There absolutely is. The questions are whether we can do this with renewable energy, whether we can do this sustainably and whether we can collectively do something in the EU. That is why I tried to convey the risks in my opening statement. I should have included climate change in that paragraph about the risks that need to be balanced with the risks of not doing anything because it will not stop the US, China or Russia, as we all hear. Are we going to use other people's AI influence and therefore may not have ultimate access in the future? We need to balance that, and it is not an easy task.