Type 0.73: Earth on the Kardashev scale, and why AI is short of wire

An essay applies Kardashev's power-based ranking of civilizations to Earth, which rates about Type 0.73 on Sagan's decimal version, and examines the energy demands of AI data centres. It argues that the current constraint is not generation but grid connections, transmission lines and chipmaking concentrated in Taiwan and the Netherlands, and it weighs Jevons's claim that efficiency raises rather than lowers total consumption.