AI consuming more electricity than Kyrgyzstan, conference hears

Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models consume more electricity than the whole of Kyrgyzstan, former chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Japarov told the Digital Kyrgyzstan International PLUS-Forum.

As reported by Akchabar on February 28, Japarov focused on one such model, ChatGPT, saying the generative AI chatbot launched in 2022 requires:

• 180mn kilowatt hours annually
• By comparison, Kyrgyzstan consumes around 17.2bn kilowatt-hours (recorded 2023 consumption).
• Therefore, the power consumption of around 80 big-scale AI algorithmic models outdoes the electricity usage of Kyrgyzstan, a country of 7.3mn people.

Japarov was quoted as saying in a speech: “We ban cryptomining because it eats up too much electricity. But artificial intelligence is unequivocally even more voracious. Imagine that, over time, humanity will start saving electricity in their own homes to feed the computing power for artificial intelligence. Perhaps there will be no revolt of the machines, but we ourselves will become their energy slaves, and absolutely voluntarily.” 

AI, warned Japarov, was also creating a new facet of inequality given that access to powerful large language models (LLMs) costs around $10 a month, more than the cost of water for many of the less fortunate people around the world.

Akchabar commented: “Kyrgyzstan has not participated in the nuclear arms race, has not become a key player in the semiconductor industry, but has a chance to fit into the new digital Silk Road. The development of AI is gaining momentum — and the question is whether we will be mere spectators or get involved in the process.”

Separately, on February 24, bne IntelliNews reported on how a team of young developers in the Kyrgyz Republic is working to ensure their native language isn't left behind when it comes to AI applications.

As noted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), “language is integral to artificial intelligence. But most AI applications are trained on the English language, which risks creating biases and excluding entire cultures from the digital wave”.

The developer’s creation, AkylAI, represents the world's first AI system fully compatible with the Kyrgyz language. At the same time, AkylAI is one of the EBRD’s Star Venture start-up beneficiaries. The development bank is helping the developers refine strategy and expand their business abroad.

"When we told people outside Kyrgyz Republic that we were building a language model in our native tongue, they were confused," said Timur, one of AkylAI's co-founders. " 'Why would your country need AI in its own language?' they asked. "We explained that while Russian remains predominantly used in our country, we're working to preserve and promote our native Kyrgyz language."

Said the EBRD: “AkylAI’s story began five years ago when Nursultan and Ulan collaborated on a tech bootcamp, teaching students data science and machine learning. Their initiative laid the foundation for Kyrgy Republic's first AI community. The team expanded when Timur returned from Europe, bringing fresh perspectives to their venture.

“As ChatGPT gained prominence on a global scale, the team identified a crucial gap: the platform's incompatibility with the Kyrgyz Republic. They started an ambitious project to build a comprehensive language corpus – collecting over 300 million Kyrgyz words within just three months. Using this data, they fine-tuned an open-source language model based on Llama, leading to the 2023 release of their beta version: a web-based chatbot responding entirely in Kyrgyz.”

The developers next milestone was developing a hardware device capable of voice-to-voice communication in Kyrgyz.

According to Timur, this represented their biggest challenge. It meant extensive work on voice recognition and synthesis. That included over 24 hours of studio recordings with an actress to train the model.

"When you work in a startup, there's a lot of uncertainty," noted Timur. "You have to learn to accept and enjoy this state. And just keep going." 

With backing provided by the EBRD's Star Venture programme –  supported by the Small Business Impact Fund – and guidance from Cambridge University experts, the team refined their business strategy.

"The support from the EBRD and Cambridge really helped us create a system and structure around how to think about our business. This is kind of the bigger picture, and you are here. These are your strengths and weaknesses," said Timur.

AkylAI's web platform today serves 15,000 users. The team has developed five prototypes, capable of speaking and answering questions.