The electricity and water consumed by asking ChatGPT just one question

Concern about the climate receding as exuberance over AI potential grows

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We asked Gemini how to reduce home electricity use. It suggested we turn off lights and wash our clothes in cold water.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Think twice the next time you ask AI to summarize that email you just received from Callaway Climate Insights.

That’s because, cool as AI’s many features are, they have an environmental impact. Each and every question you pose to a generative AI model consumes a not-insignificant amount of electricity and water, so asking that question is not environmentally neutral or benign. Perhaps we should add “AI-skam” to the flygskam (flight shame), which Greta Thunberg several years ago added to our lexicon.

Few of us are aware of this marginal impact of an AI query. That “Summarize This Email” button seems so inviting and innocuous, what can be the harm of clicking on it to see what it spits out? After all, you tell yourself, the AI model already exists; how will not asking a question save any energy?

You’re kidding yourself with this line of thinking, however. It’s hypocritical for us to pat ourselves on the back for reducing our carbon footprint while asking AI frivolous questions.