Everyday AI use brings a hidden climate cost

Marissa Loewen first began to use artificial intelligence as a project management tool in 2014 because he had autism and ADHD and helped organize his thoughts.

“We are still trying to use conscientiously, because we realize that there is an effect on the environment,” he said.

The use of personal AI is no longer unique.

Now a feature in smartphones, search engines, word processors and e -mail services.

Every time someone uses AI, it usually uses the energy produced by fossil fuels.

This leaves greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.

And it becomes difficult to live without it.

AI is largely strengthened by field queries, data storage and data centers that distribute information.

As AI is located everywhere, the demand for power for data centers increases and causes grid reliability problems for people living nearby.

Noman Beşir, who is a member of the Climate and Sustainability Consortium of MIT, is a member of information processing and climate impact, said, “Most of the new data centers are strengthened with fossil fuels because we are trying to create more renewable energy resources into the network at a speed that we cannot integrate into the network”.

Data centers also produce heat, so they rely on fresh water to stay cool.

According to the Environment and Energy Working Institute, larger centers can consume up to 18.9 million liters per day or eight Olympic swimming pool.

It is difficult to imagine, because it does not appear for most users, AI and climate embrace the leader Sasha Luccioni with the AI ​​company.

“In one of my studies, we found that producing a high -definition image uses half of your phone as much as charging. And people ‘this cannot be true, because the phone does not fall when I use ORTALE (Productive AI program)’ he said.

New Media Professor at the University of Maine, Jon Ippolito said technology companies are constantly working to make chipset and data centers more efficient, but this does not mean that AI’s environmental impact will decrease.

This is because of a problem called Jevons Paradox.

“Cheaper sources, we tend to use them so much,” he said.

When the cars replaced the horses, he said that the time of traveling did not shrink. We just traveled more.

How much these programs contribute to global warming depends on many factors such as how hot it is outside the data center that processes the query, how clean the grill is, and how complex AI task is.

Information sources about the contributions of artificial intelligence to climate change are incomplete and contradictory, so it is difficult to obtain precise numbers.

But Ippolito still tried.

Based on limited data it could find, it created an application that compares the environmental footprint of different digital tasks.

He estimates that a simple AI request, such as “Tell Me the French capital”, uses 23 times more energy than the same question written to Google without the Overview feature of the AI.

“Instead of working with existing materials, it writes them from scratch, and that requires much more calculation, Lu said Luccioni.

And this is just for a simple request.

“Tell me the number of gummy bears that can fit into the Pacific Ocean”, such as a complex request, using 210 times more energy than the AI-Free Google call.

According to IPPOLO’s application, a three -second video uses 15,000 times more energy.

It is equivalent to opening an incandescent bulb and leaving it open for more than a year.

It has a great impact, but before AI is on the stage, our technology does not mean that our footprints are without carbon.

For example, monitoring one -hour Netflix uses more energy than a complex AI text request.

With 10 people, zoom uses 10 times more than an hour.

“This is not only about informing people about the effect of AI, but also about all these digital activities we accept,” he said.

IPPOLOO said it limits AI use when possible.

Instead of what is produced by artificial intelligence, people recommend using caught images.

He tells him to stop producing as soon as he responds to avoid spending extra energy on artificial intelligence.

It wants short answers and starts Google searches by writing “-ai ,, so that it does not provide an Overview for queries that it does not need.

Loewen adopted the same approach. Instead of asking a series of repetition questions, he said he was trying to organize his thoughts in a query.

In addition, watching a movie you have on a DVD has built its own artificial intelligence, which does not rely on large data centers that save energy, as well as less taxation than flowing.

“Having something local on your computer in your home allows you to check your electricity and consumption use. It allows you to check your data a little more,” he said.

Luccioni uses Ecosia, a search engine that uses efficient algorithms and uses snow to sew trees to minimize the effect of each search.

AI function can also be closed.

ChatGPT also has a temporary chat function, so the queries you send to the data center are deleted after a few weeks instead of getting the data center storage space.

However, AI takes only part of the data center of the data center.

IPPOLO estimates that approximately 85 percent is data collection and crypto currency from sites such as Tiktok and Instagram.

Answer: Use screen time restrictions on your phone to limit time shift on social media.

Less time, less personal data, less energy and water that means less carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

“If you can do something that cuts a data center from the equation, I think it’s a gain,” IPPOLO said.

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