Good Question!
We’ve received lots of reader questions about AI and ChatGPT and the impact of the technology on the environment — and are answering one today!
Q: You share a lot of good environmental news, but also share “good news” about AI. The AI stories make me feel hopeful … but also conflicted. Should I still be concerned about the damage our use of ChatGPT is doing to the environment?
— Stephanie L.
A: Megan here! This is such a great question. By now, we’ve all seen the social media posts about asking ChatGPT to write one email being equal to pouring out one bottle of water, or powering 14 light bulbs for an hour. The environmental impacts of AI are very real and very concerning, and if we don’t pay attention, they will continue.
But … there’s some nuance here, specifically when it comes to the use of AI chatbots like ChatGPT. I’ve done some (okay, a lot) of research and found some really, really fascinating stuff.
Energy: AI is contributing to growing energy demand, but we’re meeting most of that growth with renewables! Still, there have been no new federal policies in the U.S. that require us to keep doing that, which is expected to slow that progress. For now, demand is largely being met by fossil fuels, which exacerbates climate change, damages air quality, and even drives up electric bills for everyone.
Reporting suggests it’s difficult to determine exactly how much electricity ChatGPT consumes. One analysis of the data found that it’s as much as 20,000 households, but:
- 🎮 Fortnite uses roughly 400,000 households’ worth
- ▶️ YouTube uses roughly 2,000,000
I’d truly never considered how much energy my YouTube podcast-watching habit consumed.
Water: The use of AI requires water to cool data centers, but chatbots are actually a small part of AI’s overall “energy budget.” Still, the added (and growing) water use of data centers puts pressure on local water infrastructure, most critically in areas that are already water-stressed.
A recent data analysis indicates that while 300 ChatGPT inquiries use about one gallon of water:
- 🍔 A single hamburger uses 660 gallons
- 📺 Watching one hour of TV uses 4 gallons
- 💡For the average American, just generating electricity in one day uses 60 gallons
- 🚿 Stopping your shower 1 second early would save enough water for 40 ChatGPT prompts
I’m using water directly and indirectly all day long in ways I’d never considered!
I loved what the hosts of NPR’s Short Wave podcast said in its solutions-oriented episode about AI’s environmental impacts: “Unlike the people during the industrial revolution, we know that this has a climate cost. And there’s still time to adjust how and how much we use AI.”
By better understanding this emerging technology — its benefits and its harms — we know how and where to focus our attention and make adjustments. And the good news is: people are working on solutions to AI’s issues. Google’s data center in Finland is heating homes, more efficient cooling methods like “liquid cooling” (bad name, it does not use water) are being rolled out, and more.
What this means is that at Good Good Good, we’ll be sharing those solutions — ways that this new technology can be, and is being used for good, and ways people are helping address its problems.
It’s okay to feel conflicted about AI — I certainly do. But I’ve found it really helpful to put the environmental impact of an occasional ChatGPT question in context. Not as a “pass” to use it however and whenever I want, but so I can be mindful and intentional about my AI use and continue to care for the planet by eating less meat, advocating for the clean energy transition, and even cutting back on some YouTube viewing, too.
P.S. If this topic interests you, you’d looove our brand-new Technology Edition of the Goodnewspaper that released earlier this month.
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