AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy

Science News from research organizations AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy A smarter, logic-driven AI could slash energy use by 100x—and outperform today’s most powerful systems. Date: April 5, 2026 Source: Tufts University Summary: AI is consuming staggering...

Science News from research organizations AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy A smarter, logic-driven AI could slash energy use by 100x—and outperform today’s most powerful systems. Date: April 5, 2026 Source: Tufts University Summary: AI is consuming staggering amounts of energy—already over 10% of U.S. electricity—and the demand is only accelerating. Now, researchers have unveiled a radically more efficient approach that could slash AI energy use by up to 100× while actually improving accuracy. By combining neural networks with human-like symbolic reasoning, their system helps robots think more logically instead of relying on brute-force trial and error. Share: Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email FULL STORY AI operations supported by large server facilities like this one in Sandia National Laboratory, or xAI Colossus in Mempis or others in construction such as Stargate by Microsoft and OpenAI, can consume as much energy as a small to mid-size city. Credit: Sandia National Laboratory Artificial intelligence is consuming enormous amounts of electricity in the United States. According to the International Energy Agency, AI systems and data centers used about 415 terawatt hours of power in 2024. That accounts for more than 10% of the country's total electricity production, and demand is projected to double by 2030. This rapid growth has raised concerns about sustainability. In response, researchers at a School of Engineering have created a proof-of-concept AI system designed to be far more efficient. Their approach could reduce energy use by up to 100 times while also improving performance on tasks. A Hybrid Approach Called Neuro-Symbolic AI The research comes from the laboratory of Matthias Scheutz, Karol Family Applied Technology Professor. His team is developing neuro-symbolic AI, which combines traditional neural networks with symbolic reasoning. This method mirrors how people approach problems by breaking them into steps and categories. The work will be presented at the International Conference of Robotics and Automation in Vienna in May and will appear in the conference proceedings. Teaching Robots to See, Understand, and Act Unlike familiar large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Gemini, the team focuses on AI systems used in robotics. These systems are known as visual-language-action (VLA) models. They extend LLM capabilities by incorporating vision and physical movement. VLA models take in visual data from cameras and instructions from language, then translate that information into real-world actions. For example, they can control a robot's wheels, arms, or fingers to complete a task. Why Traditional AI Struggles With Simple Tasks Conventional VLA systems rely heavily on data and trial-and-error learning. If a robot is asked to stack blocks into a tower, it must first analyze the scene, identify each block, and determine how to place them correctly. This process often leads to mistakes. Shadows may confuse the system about a block's shape, or the robot may place pieces incorrectly, causing the structure to collapse. These errors are similar to the problems seen in LLMs. Just as robots can misplace blocks, chatbots can generate false or misleading outputs. Examples include fabricating legal cases or producing images with unrealistic details such as extra fingers. How Symbolic Reasoning Improves Accuracy and Efficiency Symbolic reasoning offers a different strategy. Instead of relying only on patterns from data, it uses rules and abstract concepts such as shape and balance. This allows the system to plan more effectively and avoid unnecessary trial and error. "Like an LLM, VLA models act on statistical results from large training sets of similar scenarios, but that can lead to errors," said Scheutz. "A neuro-symbolic VLA can apply rules that limit the amount of trial and error during learning and get to a solution much faster. Not only does it complete the task much faster, but the time spent on training the system is significantly reduced." Strong Results in Puzzle Tests The researchers tested their system using the Tower of Hanoi puzzle, a classic problem that requires careful planning. The neuro-symbolic VLA achieved a 95% success rate, compared with just 34% for standard systems. When given a more complex version of the puzzle that it had not encountered before, the hybrid system still succeeded 78% of the time. Traditional models failed every attempt. Training time also dropped sharply. The new system learned the task in only 34 minutes, while conventional models required more than a day and a half. Massive Energy Savings in Training and Use Energy consumption was reduced dramatically as well. Training the neuro-symbolic model required only 1% of the energy used by a standard VLA system. During operation, it used just 5% of the energy needed by conventional approaches. Scheutz compared this inefficiency to everyday AI tools. "These systems are just trying to predict the next word or action in a sequence, but that can be imperfect, and they can come up with inaccurate results or hallucinations. Their energy expense is often disproportionate to the task. For example, when you search on Google, the AI summary at the top of the page consumes up to 100 times more energy than the generation of the website listings." The Growing Strain of AI on Power Infrastructure As AI adoption accelerates across industries, demand for computing power continues to climb. Companies are building increasingly large data centers, some of which require hundreds of megawatts of electricity. That level of consumption can exceed the needs of entire small cities. This trend has sparked a race to expand infrastructure, raising concerns about long-term energy limits. A More Sustainable Path for AI The researchers suggest that current approaches based on LLMs and VLAs may not be sustainable in the long run. While these systems are powerful, they consume large amounts of energy and can still produce unreliable results. In contrast, neuro-symbolic AI offers a different direction. By combining learning with structured reasoning, it may provide a more efficient and dependable foundation for future AI systems. RELATED TOPICS Computers & Math Computers and Internet Computer Modeling Artificial Intelligence Robotics Statistics Mathematics Communications Information Technology RELATED TERMS Robot Industrial robot Humanoid robot Artificial intelligence Neural network Blue Gene Robotic surgery Computing Story Source: Materials provided by Tufts University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference: Timothy Duggan, Pierrick Lorang, Hong Lu, Matthias Scheutz. The Price Is Not Right: Neuro-Symbolic Methods Outperform VLAs on Structured Long-Horizon Manipulation Tasks with Significantly Lower Energy Consumption. arXiv, 22 Feb 2026 DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2602.19260 Cite This Page: MLA APA Chicago Tufts University. "AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 April 2026. . Tufts University. (2026, April 5). AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 13, 2026 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260405003952.htm Tufts University. "AI breakthrough cuts energy use by 100x while boosting accuracy." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/04/260405003952.htm (accessed July 13, 2026). Explore More from ScienceDaily RELATED STORIES Light-Powered Chip Makes AI 100 Times More Efficient Sep. 9, 2025 — Artificial intelligence is consuming enormous amounts of energy, but researchers at the University of Florida have built a chip that could change everything by using light instead of electricity for ... Ant Insights Lead to Robot Navigation Breakthrough July 17, 2024 — Have you ever wondered how insects are able to go so far beyond their home and still find their way? The answer to this question is not only relevant to biology but also to making the AI for tiny, ... A Soft, Stimulating Scaffold Supports Brain Cell Development Ex Vivo Jan. 5, 2023 — Brain-computer interface companies like Neuralink are in the news a lot these days for their potential to revolutionize how humans interact with machines, but electrodes are not the most ... Breaking the Scaling Limits of Analog Computing Nov. 29, 2022 — A new technique greatly reduces the error in an optical neural network, which uses light to process data instead of electrical signals. With their technique, the larger an optical neural network ... Towards Autonomous Prediction and Synthesis of Novel Magnetic Materials July 7, 2022 — In materials science, candidates for novel functional materials are usually explored in a trial-and-error fashion through calculations, synthetic methods, and material analysis. However, the approach ... Engineering Team Develops New AI Algorithms for High Accuracy and Cost Effective Medical Image Diagnostics Apr. 12, 2022 — Medical imaging is an important part of modern healthcare, enhancing both the precision, reliability and development of treatment for various diseases. Artificial intelligence has also been widely ... TRENDING AT SCITECHDAILY.com Astronomers Find a New Clue for Detecting Runaway Supermassive Black Holes Why You Hate Eating Bugs: DNA Reveals a 9,000-Year-Old Legacy Coffee May Protect the Liver in More Ways Than Scientists Realized The Hidden Health Risk of Sitting for Hours Without a Break

Source: ScienceDaily AI — Published April 6, 2026 at 01:23 UTC — Category: Research