AI Is Coming for Bitcoin’s Energy | Michael Dunworth

Michael Dunworth warns that surging AI energy demands could sideline Bitcoin mining in global energy allocation, as governments and grids prioritize AI as a public necessity, eroding Bitcoin's proof-of-work security model grounded in energy expenditure.

AI's Disruptive Rise and Energy Thirst

Dunworth describes AI as a transformative force akin to electricity replacing candles or sewing machines, poised to eliminate 15-20% unemployment through job obsolescence across fields like law, engineering, freelancing (e.g., Upwork devs in India, Vietnam), and even trades like plumbing. A tennis robot trained on four hours of data beat a top high school player, signaling physical tasks aren't safe; future housing might redesign for robotic maintenance, ditching traditional plumbing like obsolete chimneys. This displacement coincides with double-digit inflation, leaving graduates with unpayable student debt amid vanishing roles. AI's growth accelerates via exponential curves in content generation (now ~70% of internet data), data centers, and optimization, outpacing human adaptation. Energy scarcity emerges as the bottleneck, with hyperscalers like Google and Meta courting Bitcoin miners for stranded energy expertise (e.g., sites in Kenya).