The true cost and future of AI

Artificial intelligence represents the most consequential technological shift since the internet, yet its true costs extend far beyond the headlines of trillion-dollar valuations and revolutionary capabilities. This report examines the cascading economic, social, and environmental consequences of AI’s rapid ascent, drawing on data from Goldman Sachs, the International Energy Agency, IDC, Stanford HAI, the World Economic Forum, Brookings, and dozens of other institutional sources. The findings reveal a technology whose growth trajectory is creating structural pressures across multiple domains simultaneously, from labour markets and semiconductor supply chains to water resources, electrical grids, and geopolitical power structures. Global AI spending is…