New co-sponsored award to advance research in AI & energy
By Giordana Verrengia
Media Inquiries- Communications Manager
The Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and the Block Center for Technology and Society have co-sponsored a new award to advance research in AI and energy at Carnegie Mellon University.
According to leadership at both research centers, this resource was established to merge sustainability goals with AI’s technical sophistication.
“Carnegie Mellon has world-renowned expertise in both AI and energy,” says Costa Samaras, Director of the Scott Institute. “Collaborating with The Block Center for Technology and Society for this award enables us to support our faculty to pursue innovative, cutting-edge research around two extremely important and interconnected topics.”
The first-ever Seed Grant for AI & Energy has been awarded to Peter Zhang, an assistant professor of operations research at CMU’s Heinz College of Information and Public Policy. Zhang specializes in applying optimization theory to socio-technical systems. His project, “Supply Chain Solutions for the Missing Renewable Energy and Nocturnal AI,” tackles the intersection of two crucial topics with a guiding question: How can we optimally design energy supply chains and schedule AI work to best utilize solar and wind energy?
The justification for this project’s focus is that grid constraints curtail the use of renewable energy like wind and solar. As the energy supply chains for data centers continue to evolve, Zhang points out that “AI systems do not need to follow biological clocks and can be nocturnal,” allowing Zhang to explore the practicality of scheduling language model training and deployment of robotic work at night — also known as “nocturnal AI.” Since human activities mostly occur during the day, this could create less conflicting energy consumption patterns.
“As AI advances lead to new energy demands, this project -- and the launch of this award — couldn't come at a better time,” says Ramayya Krishnan, Dean of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and Faculty Director of The Block Center for Technology and Society. “We look forward to the progress that Professor Zhang will make in this very important area of research.”