Fake Money Real Power

What is the real behind the artificial? What is the physical cost of the global shift towards AI?

Fake Money Real Power is a video installation that generates money in real time. The money is fake. An AI image generator creates and displays fake banknotes. The money is adorned with engravings of tech ceos, “tech bros”, standing in front of nuclear power plants, hydroelectric dams, and coal plants. The bills are sprinkled with the logos of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Fake Money Real Power highlights the relationship between AI, cryptocurrency, and electrical power generation.

Mixed in with the fake money are photographs of real nuclear power plants like Chernobyl, Zaporizhzhia, and Three Mile Island. Also mixed in are livestream feeds of Fukushima in Japan.

The return of nuclear power shows the true cost of the AI revolution, which is the soaring demand for electrical power generation. Datacenters powering the AI revolution demand enough electricity to power entire cities. The demand is so high, tech companies are considering reopening Three Mile Island in the US. Fukushima in Japan has already reopened. What was once the unthinkable is becoming a reality.

Fake Money Real Power is also a print series consisting of a limited edition of eight different AI generated banknotes.