Google Just Put an AI in Charge of Keeping Its Data Centers Cool (zdnet.com)

Google is putting an artificial intelligence system in charge of its data center cooling after the system proved it could cut energy use. From a report: Now Google and its AI company DeepMind are taking the project further; instead of recommendations being implemented by human staff, the AI system is directly controlling cooling in the data centers that run services including Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. "This first-of-its-kind cloud-based control system is now safely delivering energy savings in multiple Google data centers," Google said. Data centers use vast amount of energy and as the demand for cloud computing rises even small tweaks to areas like cooling can produce significant time and cost savings. Google's decision to use its own DeepMind-created system is also a good plug for its AI business. Every five minutes, the AI pulls a snapshot of the data center cooling system from thousands of sensors. This data is fed into deep neural networks, which predict how different choices will affect future energy consumption.

Comments

I have an AI at home, too

[Sooner Boomer]

It's called a THERMOSTAT

and no, it's not connected to the internet.

Re: I have an AI at home, too

[Anonymous Coward]

humans emit heat...

Bzzzt!

I'm sorry Dave,
  you must stay at room temperature,
for the good of the Servers.

Dave ?

Dave ?

Re:I have an AI at home, too

[The Original CDR]

"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." - Scotty (Star Trek 5)

Re:I have an AI at home, too

[jbengt]

I don't disagree that better control can save energy, or that learning algorithms can help find more optimal solutions. Still, even with 1,000s of sensors (which many buildings already have in their BAS) you don't need AI to control HVAC. Considering they claim 40% energy savings, I doubt that the only change they made is adding an "AI" to the controls. Sounds more like they allowed greater temperature swings and higher temperatures in general.

The data center became self-aware

[filesiteguy]

Next it will be instructing us lowly humans to build new data centers so we can keep ourselves cool.

Really?

[pilaftank]

> âoeachieve a 40 percent reduction in the amount of energy used for coolingâ Yeah, right. Seems unlikely unless they are also using blockchain.

a cheaper solution

[slashmydots]

Just let about a dozen cats loose in the building and they'll automatically find the warmest spots to snuggle up and take a nap on. Then you add more fans or whatever to that area. That costs basically nothing and cats are provably smarter than AI.

Re:a cheaper solution

[Oswald McWeany]

Just let about a dozen cats loose in the building and they'll automatically find the warmest spots to snuggle up and take a nap on. Then you add more fans or whatever to that area. That costs basically nothing

You've not met my cats!!!! Vet bills are not free!

and cats are provably smarter than AI.

You've not met my cats!!!

You mean algorithm?

[schklerg]

Seriously - it's an algorithm. It may be a more gooder one fed by sensor data, but it can only be deemed intelligence in the same way a report is intelligence. So tired of this buzzword.

I for one find it...

[nospam007]

Cool!

Re:How is this artificial intelligence?

[gweihir]

Every stupid demented thing is "AI" these days, because too many people believe in magic....

Thermostats vs an actual solution

[OrangeTide]

You set upper and lower bounds ad the thermostat engages heat or AC if the ambient temperature goes outside the set limits. I fail to see what AI adds to this.

I take it your thermostat doesn't route job orders in a large cluster to avoid sending work to hot cabinets?

Only controlling the A/C doesn't sound so useful to me. At least if I'm trying to optimize for most processing done per unit of electricity.