Daily use of AI incurs an unseen environmental burden
The increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our daily lives has become a norm, with its presence in smartphones, search engines, word processors, and email services. However, the environmental impact of AI is not always evident to users.
One aspect that contributes to this impact is the energy consumption of AI tasks. Every use of AI consumes energy, often generated by fossil fuels, contributing to climate change. This is particularly true for tasks that involve writing new materials from scratch, which require significantly more compute and energy.
For instance, an hour on Zoom with 10 people uses 10 times the energy of an hour of Netflix. A complex AI prompt, such as "Tell me the number of gummy bears that could fit in the Pacific Ocean," uses 210 times more energy than an AI-free Google search.
Data centers powering AI are a significant source of energy consumption, leading to grid reliability problems for nearby residents. Larger data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons (18.9 million liters) of water daily, equivalent to the daily water demand for a town of up to 50,000 people.
Tech companies are working to make chips and data centers more efficient, but the environmental impact may not decrease due to the Jevons Paradox. This paradox suggests that technological efficiency improvements lead to increased consumption of the efficient technology.
Marissa Loewen, who started using AI as a project management tool in 2014, faced these challenges and decided to take action. She organised her thoughts into one AI query instead of asking a series of iterative questions and built her own AI that doesn't rely on large data centers.
In an effort to reduce the environmental footprint of AI, some individuals are adopting conscious practices. Ippolito, for example, limits his use of AI when he can, suggesting using human-captured images instead of AI-generated ones, avoiding unnecessary prompts, and requesting concise answers. He also advocates for using screen time restrictions on phones to limit time spent scrolling on social media, reducing personal data collection, energy and water use, and carbon emissions.
Moreover, there are options for environmentally-friendly AI usage. Luccioni uses Ecosia, a search engine that uses efficient algorithms and plants trees with its profits, and its AI function can be turned off.
Despite these efforts, the exact contribution of AI to global warming is difficult to quantify due to a lack of comprehensive information. Approximately 85% of data center energy use is due to data collection from sites like TikTok and Instagram, and cryptocurrency. The share of energy consumption of data centers attributable to specific companies, such as Hugging Face, is not currently available.
The Associated Press's (AP) climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations, but AP is solely responsible for all content.
In conclusion, while AI offers numerous benefits, it is crucial to consider its environmental impact. By adopting conscious practices and using environmentally-friendly options, individuals can contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of AI.
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