In the world of business and technology, the subscription model has become the golden child of revenue streams. It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. In theory, It promises great value but often results in a paradox of plenty and an overstuffed yet unfulfilled appetite for content. As a tech and business analyst, I’ve watched this model evolve, or rather stagnate. I’ve come to view the subscription model as a form of business development laziness. Allow me to explain…

This is not the opening line to a joke, but the makings of a modern day existential crisis.

Preface: As part of my well-earned millennial mid-life crisis, I got into biodynamic farming and food fermentation. This journey took me from working on permaculture projects in the Azores, learning about volcanic soil, to volunteering in alchemists-run labs in Brandenburg making fire ciders and sauerkraut. It is also probably why I’ve been thinking a lot about Blockchain and AI.

Finding out about the energy consumption side of LLMs of the likes of Claude II, ChatGPT4, Bard and so many others...is like discovering a garden hose leak, slowly transforming a tiny trickle into a torrent, threatening environmental overflow (sorry for the hyperbole). Our AI obsession coupled with AI’s growing appetite for energy is a recipe for environmental disaster. But it doesn’t have to be that way.