In a recent X exchange, two AI researchers explore how RAM located inside fast-networked data centers could hold structurally higher economic value than isolated local memory once ASI-scale workloads begin competing for resources, with high-value centralized tasks outbidding consumer uses such as running games locally.
@yaroslavvb What if you change the architecture to better take advantage of the available extra RAM?
@geoffreyirving Land is regulated though. We may be out of space for datacenters, but still have parks. Then you sell this piece of RAM to a consumer to keep in the pocket while strolling the park.
The thread stresses that provable lower bounds on required communication make fast connectivity the decisive factor, so memory in data centers gains outsized utility while isolated or cellular-linked RAM loses most of its worth for the same problems.
Examples contrast data-center applications like weather forecasting against post-ASI local gaming, leaving open whether production limits on fabs and datacenter land will allow consumer hardware to close the gap or whether prices simply stay elevated indefinitely.
Users agree that architecture changes should prioritize RAM in data centers because its value is higher there with fast networks than in consumer setups.
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@geoffreyirving I'd say fundamental constraint is connectivity. RAM placed in a datacenter has different utility than RAM connected over cell network than RAM with no internet connection at all. We have provable lower bounds on amount of communication needed to solve some problems
@yaroslavvb What if you change the architecture to better take advantage of the available extra RAM?
@yaroslavvb Yes, this is why the RAM is more valuable in the data centers with fast networks.
@geoffreyirving I'd say fundamental constraint is connectivity. RAM placed in a datacenter has different utility than RAM connected over cell network than RAM with no internet connection at all. We have provable lower bounds on amount of communication needed to solve some problems
@geoffreyirving So it comes down to fine-grained demand, how much is somebody willing to pay for a better weather forecast (which needs a data center) vs playing GTA 6 locally (definitely coming after ASI)
@yaroslavvb Yes, this is why the RAM is more valuable in the data centers with fast networks.