Since AI has gotten popular in 2022 to the peak of its popularity in 2026, its use has increased immensely since then. Because of its growing popularity and use, companies with legs in the artificial intelligence industry have used data centers to store their learning models and be their think tanks.
There
are numerous problems that have risen from these data centers, with one of them being
that they have to store numerous amounts of the data somehow and they have accommodated these demands with large amounts memory modules like RAM or random
access memory. This is a problem because the amount of memory modules that is
needed has impacted the prices of common technology such as phones, smart
televisions, computers and even computer parts.
Why
does memory play such a critical role in artificial intelligence systems? While
AI has grown over the past few years, it had to learn how to respond to prompts given by users and because of this it
has been able to respond accordingly.
Not
only did they have to learn the proper responses, but the machines also had to
be able to easily access the data. Machine learning and deep learning models
have required the large amounts of memory because they have to continuously
access and process the already existing data along with possible results
following the prompt, according to Jongyeop Kim, the assistant professor of
information technology at Georgia Southern University.
“Memory
systems such as RAM and GPU memory play a critical role by providing fast read
and write access, enabling CPUs and GPUs to perform repeated computations
efficiently,” Kim said.
Kim
also spoke on how insufficient memory capacity would immediately degrade
performance, especially since artificial intelligence models and datasets have
grown over the years.
As mentioned before, the rising demand in memory modules has effected the prices of more common technology products like cell phones and smart televisions.
PC’s
or personal computers have also had their prices increased recently due to the
shortage of memory. Computer companies like Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer and ASUS
have already warned their customers of 15-20% price increases, according to the
International Data Corporation.
Prices
of certain parts have also seen steady increases in prices. This directly affects
computer gamers and computer builders since the parts needed to improve their
hardware has gotten more expensive over time.
“I’ve
been planning to upgrade my PC, but it’s not looking likely with these prices,”
Trajure Gordon, a Statesboro resident said.
Affordable
phones even took a hit in their prices since memory makes up around 15% of the
materials involved in their production. Its is expected that these cell phones
will rise up 10% in price.
So
why cant memory production companies just produce more RAM and other
components? The answer to that is they are, but they haven’t been producing the
right memory modules. Since there has been a rapid expansion of AI usage in
recent years, manufacturing companies have shifted their priorities from
consumer electronics to more demanding technology. Companies feel that they had
to make the change because of the growth in the AI industry which leaves little
to no production for consumer memory products, according CNBC.