OpenAI CEO Sam Altman questions why people keep so much RAM in their computers; but what happens when the internet goes down?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made some viral remarks during an appearance on the Cheeky Pint podcast. The discussion was about local AI inference, open-source AI models and the global shortage of computing resources. Altman questioned the efficiency of people keeping large amounts of DRAM in personal computers when that memory is being used only around 5% of the time. He argued that from a global resource-allocation perspective, memory could be used more efficiently in cloud data centres, where multiple users can access shared computing resources.

What is the difference between local and cloud computing?

Altman's comments were about the amount of RAM sitting unused in personal computers. When someone opens a programme on their laptop, the device's own processor and RAM handle the work.

The processing happens in remote data centres in cloud computing. It is operated by companies, and users access the computing resources through the internet.

What could happen if connection gets lost?

Cloud-based services depend on network connectivity. It is between a user's device and remote servers. When the user finds that internet connection is disrupted, they may lose access to cloud-hosted applications, online storage, remote processing and AI services. This same thing can also affect cloud-based applications. It can also affect files stored online, notably, if users have not downloaded them for offline access.

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Local computing and why does it still matter?

Not everyone has access to a stable internet connection throughout the day. It can sometimes become a big problem. Many people these days need a good internet connection while they are travelling, working remotely or living in areas with poor connectivity.

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Running applications directly on a computer also means users do not have to send every request or piece of information to an external server. Local processing can also be faster for certain tasks, as the device does not have to send information to a remote server and then wait for a response.