Sam Altman says "intelligence is a utility like electricity or water" on AI utility model

In an essay lamenting AI’s effect on writing, an author cited Sam Altman’s earlier prediction that people would someday buy machine intelligence by the meter, like a basic utility. The writer condemned the tech industry’s push to automate creativity, saying her own books and millions of others had allegedly been taken from an unauthorized online repository by Meta in what she described as a historic mass infringement of copyright. She also pointed to data centers consuming more than a fifth of Ireland’s electricity, per a UN report, and cited recent literary disputes involving suspected AI use, including a withdrawn novel and a removed writing tool. The piece argues this erodes trust between writers and readers.