14.8.2: Critical Thinking Questions

Introduction to Cloud Computing · LibreTexts

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    From LibreTexts, under CC BY 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    Critical Thinking Questions

    1. AI Infrastructure Economics: Training GPT-4 reportedly cost over $100 million in compute resources. Analyze how cloud computing makes this possible (elastic GPU clusters, pay-per-use) while also creating barriers (only well-funded organizations can afford it). How might "Foundation Model as a Service" democratize access to AI? What new dependencies and risks does this create?
    2. Sustainability Tension: Cloud providers market both AI services (which consume massive energy) and sustainability commitments (carbon-neutral operations). Analyze this tension. Is it possible to simultaneously scale AI infrastructure and reduce environmental impact? What specific technical approaches (Green AI, efficient architectures, carbon-aware scheduling) could help? Should there be industry regulation on AI energy consumption?
    3. Serverless Future: T-Mobile has a "serverless first" policy for new applications. Debate whether all organizations should adopt a similar policy. What types of workloads remain poorly suited for serverless? How do serverless limitations (cold starts, execution time limits, vendor lock-in) affect the decision? Will serverless eventually replace containers and VMs for most workloads?
    4. Future Cloud Careers: Based on the trends in this chapter (serverless, AI/ML, edge computing, AIOps, sustainability), predict how cloud professional roles will evolve over the next 5–10 years. What new roles might emerge? Which current roles might diminish? What skills should students invest in today to remain relevant?

    This page titled 14.8.2: Critical Thinking Questions was last modified on Tue, 22 Sep 2026 21:13:46 GMT and is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Felix Amoruwa.