By Newstake · Updated
Is AI bad for the environment?
AI has a real environmental cost, mainly the electricity and water that data centres use. That cost is growing fast. One question to ChatGPT or another assistant uses very little energy, but billions of questions add up. Whether AI is bad for the environment depends on how that electricity is made and on what AI is used for.
Photo by @ismailenesayhan on Unsplash
- What
Electricity, water or carbon?
- How much
Per question, per year or in total?
- Compared
Compared with what?
Ask your AI agent
Check the latest news about the energy use of AI data centres from newstake.ai.
How much electricity data centres use
The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres used about 415 terawatt hours of electricity in 2024, about 1.5% of all electricity in the world. It expects that to roughly double by 2030, mostly because of AI.
That is a lot, but it is still a small share of all electricity. Factories and buildings use far more.
Water and local effects
Many data centres use water to stay cool. Where water or power is scarce, a large new data centre can put pressure on local supplies, which is why some towns welcome them and others push back.
Where AI helps
AI helps run power grids, find new materials for batteries and solar panels, and predict the weather. Some of the largest AI companies buy clean power and invest in nuclear and renewable energy for their data centres.
The net effect is still being measured. Check who publishes a number, and whether it counts one question, one year or one company.
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