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Artificial intelligence seems to have taken over the internet in recent years. From helping jobseekers craft the perfect resume to creating the most bizarre “art” the world has ever seen, ChatGPT and other similar programs are happy to assist users with whatever they ask for.
But have you ever taken time to consider the environmental impacts of using generative AI? One woman, Nikita Redkar, is urging internet users to reconsider how often they use ChatGPT after becoming aware of just how much water and energy it takes to keep programs like this running. Below, you’ll find a video she shared breaking down how AI harms the planet, as well as some of the replies viewers shared.
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Generative AI has exploded in popularity in recent years
Image credits: Sanket Mishra (not the actual photo)
But this woman wants users to be aware of just how harmful these programs can be to the environment
Image credits: nikitadumptruck
Image credits: nikitadumptruck
Image credits: nikitadumptruck
Image credits: nikitadumptruck
You can hear Nikita’s full explanation right here
Watch on TikTok
Data centers for AI programs are expected to keep increasing their water consumption in coming years
If you’re a huge fan of artificial intelligence, you might not be thrilled to hear this information. After all, ChatGPT can help you make a meal plan for the week, give you a digestible summary of that book you’ve been trying to read for months or help you talk through your relationship issues. But we can’t ignore the effect it’s having on the planet.
First, let’s start with the claims Nikita made in her video, as some readers pointed out that they wanted to see sources for her information. AXIOS reports that, it’s true, Microsoft’s data centers in West Des Moines, Iowa, were responsible for 6% of the town’s total water usage during the summers of 2022 and 2023. And The Washington Post reported in 2023 that Google admitted to using over a quarter of the water supply in The Dalles, Oregon, to keep their servers cool.
As far as how much water it takes to write a 100-word email with ChatGPT’s help, The Washington Post revealed that it really does take 519 milliliters, or a little more than one standard water bottle, to keep equipment cool and functioning properly.
If you’re wondering how exactly this water is used, The Times has a nice graph breaking it down that you can find here. They also note that Google used 24,227 megaliters of water in 2023, which is equivalent to filling 9,691 Olympic sized swimming pools. It’s also the same amount of water that you might use if you took 372.7 million showers.
By 2027, AI data centers around the world are expected to guzzle 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water, which is about half as much water as the entire UK uses in a year.
Image credits: Jonathan Kemper (not the actual photo)
ChatGPT’s carbon footprint is equivalent to taking 260 transatlantic flights a month
And it’s not only water that generative AI programs need. According to a study by KnownHost, ChatGPT’s carbon footprint is equivalent to taking 260 transatlantic flights each month. The data centers needed to keep these programs running require round the clock energy consumption. They also create electronic waste, which puts harmful chemicals into our environment.
So why should we care about how AI is impacting the planet? Well, the United Nations reports that 2.2 billion people around the globe already lack access to safely managed drinking water services, and 2 billion people live in nations experiencing “high water stress.” It’s hard to justify wasting such a valuable resource that could literally save lives on simply keeping computers cool.
The International Energy Agency also reports that asking ChatGPT a question uses 10 times the amount of electricity that a simple Google search needs. You probably already know that energy consumption contributes to climate change by creating carbon emissions, warming the planet and, in turn, creating more natural disasters.
Everything on the planet is connected, and every choice that we make has an impact. The UNEP is urging countries and tech companies to make AI more sustainable by building greener data centers, creating more efficient algorithms and being transparent about the impacts AI has on the environment. But if you’re looking to reduce your own carbon footprint, you might want to start by removing ChatGPT from your life.
Image credits: Berke Citak (not the actual photo)
Many viewers were skeptical and admitted that they have no intentions to stop using AI
However, others appreciated the information and swore off AI
Poll Question
How do you feel about the environmental impact of AI after reading the article?
Concerned and considering reducing AI use
Aware but will continue using AI
Unconcerned about AI's environmental impact
Skeptical about the claims
What do you think ?
Tucker Cahooter 6 days ago
Ok, now do a post on the environmental impact of the electricity consumption from bitcoin mining.
Royal Stray 6 days ago
Or like the comments said, social media, or website or game there is... There are genuine issues with AI that need to be addressed, but at this point it's just fear mongering and people hating it for the sake of hating it without actually having any proper or relevant arguments. It would be more legitimate to write about how AI is killing creativity and actually making people worse at writing, and formulating themselves.
Load More Replies...
The Darkest Timeline 6 days ago
AI is bad for those reasons plus it doesn’t do anything. As a business, it is terrible and as technology, it isn’t solving any real problems.
Romy Rösli 6 days ago
The agriculture comparison is just stupid. Yes, agriculture consumes a lot of water because it has too feed 8 billion people. We can live without AI, social media, etc. but we won’t survive without agriculture.
Just_for_this 6 days ago (edited)
Like most of the world's problems, It isn't the individual that is causing 99.9% of them. We’re just trying to make it through the day, keep food on the table, and the lights on. Right where 'they' want us. Even if a person eliminated their impact entirely (Millions could), and it would still make an immeasurably small difference on a global scale. The real drivers of environmental and societal issues are corporations, industries, and governments. True change requires systemic shifts, not just individual sacrifices.
RS 6 days ago
If people stopped buying unethical and harmfully produced things, we'd be naked and hungry.
ABC NrTen FCK CENSORISM 6 days ago
oh boy... Romy, that's exactly what the big corporations want you to think. Please read up.
Beak Hookage 6 days ago
I don't use Google search any more because I very quickly got sick of all the BS AI generated results. I use Dogpile as my search engine now. It's AI free.
Miriam Insidecor 6 days ago
The commenters are willfully ignorant. Even though AI is everywhere it doesn't mean you have to actively use it. Also, are people fine just not thinking for themselves anymore? We're all turning into sheep.
Parmeisan 6 days ago
I agree that you shouldn't actively use it. But you are often using it without knowing or trying, it's running in the background without advertising itself. My point was not that you should just use it because fighting is pointless, but that it's*not easy* not to use it. You need to actively avoid it.
RS 6 days ago
All the moronic comments: BuT wHaT aBOuT XYZ??? When whataboutism is your only point of argument, you do not have a point of argument. The environmental impact is one of many reasons why AI is absolutely horrible in the context of generative AI. People who rely on it risk losing useful skills like reading and writing.
The Darkest Timeline 6 days ago
What does AI even do? According to these comments, it helps people cheat on their papers and…nothing else, really. People saying that it’s this great invention have no idea what it really does. It hasn’t solved any real problems; all we get are some promises about what it might do in the future. We would be (and have been) just fine without it. In a lot of ways we’d be better off because we’d have to actually learn shït rather than asking an LLM for information we gave no ability to verify. Also, these companies lose tons of money; they aren’t really businesses except in the sense that they provide some jobs and give arrogant tech bros something to crow about.
Parmeisan 6 days ago (edited)
Unfortunately, it's not easy not to use ChatGPT. It *used* to be easy. I didn't use it for the longest time, because of the environmental impact. But now you get an AI answer bundled with every google search. (Perhaps someone can recommend a good search engine that doesn't do this? [Edit: I see that Dogpile has already been suggested. I'll give that a try! But I'll accept other suggestions too! I need one that's good for technical/programming searches so I might need to try a few and see which is best.]) And it's just... everywhere. My phone keeps trying to push it on me. Seems like every computer application thinks it needs AI now, whether it's your photo editor or your text editor or a video game. God, I wish it were still easy not to use AI.
StrangeOne 6 days ago
The video is insufferable. What is with the rapid speech and why are girls only doing these while getting ready?
Patrick Flood 6 days ago
Nothing absolutly nothing is stopping AI now. The best course of action is to keep making sara centers more efficient and run by clean energy. Stopping human progress isn't an option. "Just don't do it" is the dumbest and most unrealistic thing anyone can say lol. Y'all cant even stop using plastic bottles but yeah let's focus stopping the most helpful of human made technology ever. Smh. It's like no one common sense. Think about it. It will ever stop. It's here to stay. Focus on making advancements in clean energy to keep up. That's the only answer that can solve this concern. No on is going to put it themselves at a disadvantage against everyone will keep using it. That's dumb as hell. YOU WILL NEVER STOP AI
Ace 6 days ago
There's at least one incorrect point here - "the electric bill goes up for everyone". No, the data centres pay for electricity just like everybody else, they're not freeloading off of your electric bills.
Tucker Cahooter 6 days ago
Ok, now do a post on the environmental impact of the electricity consumption from bitcoin mining.
Royal Stray 6 days ago
Or like the comments said, social media, or website or game there is... There are genuine issues with AI that need to be addressed, but at this point it's just fear mongering and people hating it for the sake of hating it without actually having any proper or relevant arguments. It would be more legitimate to write about how AI is killing creativity and actually making people worse at writing, and formulating themselves.
Load More Replies... The Darkest Timeline 6 days ago
AI is bad for those reasons plus it doesn’t do anything. As a business, it is terrible and as technology, it isn’t solving any real problems.
Romy Rösli 6 days ago
The agriculture comparison is just stupid. Yes, agriculture consumes a lot of water because it has too feed 8 billion people. We can live without AI, social media, etc. but we won’t survive without agriculture.
Just_for_this 6 days ago (edited)
Like most of the world's problems, It isn't the individual that is causing 99.9% of them. We’re just trying to make it through the day, keep food on the table, and the lights on. Right where 'they' want us. Even if a person eliminated their impact entirely (Millions could), and it would still make an immeasurably small difference on a global scale. The real drivers of environmental and societal issues are corporations, industries, and governments. True change requires systemic shifts, not just individual sacrifices.
RS 6 days ago
If people stopped buying unethical and harmfully produced things, we'd be naked and hungry.
ABC NrTen FCK CENSORISM 6 days ago
oh boy... Romy, that's exactly what the big corporations want you to think. Please read up.
Beak Hookage 6 days ago
I don't use Google search any more because I very quickly got sick of all the BS AI generated results. I use Dogpile as my search engine now. It's AI free.
Miriam Insidecor 6 days ago
The commenters are willfully ignorant. Even though AI is everywhere it doesn't mean you have to actively use it. Also, are people fine just not thinking for themselves anymore? We're all turning into sheep.
Parmeisan 6 days ago
I agree that you shouldn't actively use it. But you are often using it without knowing or trying, it's running in the background without advertising itself. My point was not that you should just use it because fighting is pointless, but that it's*not easy* not to use it. You need to actively avoid it.
RS 6 days ago
All the moronic comments: BuT wHaT aBOuT XYZ??? When whataboutism is your only point of argument, you do not have a point of argument. The environmental impact is one of many reasons why AI is absolutely horrible in the context of generative AI. People who rely on it risk losing useful skills like reading and writing.
The Darkest Timeline 6 days ago
What does AI even do? According to these comments, it helps people cheat on their papers and…nothing else, really. People saying that it’s this great invention have no idea what it really does. It hasn’t solved any real problems; all we get are some promises about what it might do in the future. We would be (and have been) just fine without it. In a lot of ways we’d be better off because we’d have to actually learn shït rather than asking an LLM for information we gave no ability to verify. Also, these companies lose tons of money; they aren’t really businesses except in the sense that they provide some jobs and give arrogant tech bros something to crow about.
Parmeisan 6 days ago (edited)
Unfortunately, it's not easy not to use ChatGPT. It *used* to be easy. I didn't use it for the longest time, because of the environmental impact. But now you get an AI answer bundled with every google search. (Perhaps someone can recommend a good search engine that doesn't do this? [Edit: I see that Dogpile has already been suggested. I'll give that a try! But I'll accept other suggestions too! I need one that's good for technical/programming searches so I might need to try a few and see which is best.]) And it's just... everywhere. My phone keeps trying to push it on me. Seems like every computer application thinks it needs AI now, whether it's your photo editor or your text editor or a video game. God, I wish it were still easy not to use AI.
StrangeOne 6 days ago
The video is insufferable. What is with the rapid speech and why are girls only doing these while getting ready?
Patrick Flood 6 days ago
Nothing absolutly nothing is stopping AI now. The best course of action is to keep making sara centers more efficient and run by clean energy. Stopping human progress isn't an option. "Just don't do it" is the dumbest and most unrealistic thing anyone can say lol. Y'all cant even stop using plastic bottles but yeah let's focus stopping the most helpful of human made technology ever. Smh. It's like no one common sense. Think about it. It will ever stop. It's here to stay. Focus on making advancements in clean energy to keep up. That's the only answer that can solve this concern. No on is going to put it themselves at a disadvantage against everyone will keep using it. That's dumb as hell. YOU WILL NEVER STOP AI
Ace 6 days ago
There's at least one incorrect point here - "the electric bill goes up for everyone". No, the data centres pay for electricity just like everybody else, they're not freeloading off of your electric bills.
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