Every time someone uses ChatGPT to write an essay, create an image or advise them on planning their day, the environment pays a price.
A query on the chatbot that uses artificial intelligence is estimated to require at least 10 times more electricity than a standard search on Google.
If all Google searches similarly used generative AI, they might consume as much electricity as a country the size of Ireland, calculates Alex de Vries, the founder of Digiconomist, a website that aims to expose the unintended consequences of digital trends.
AI is also thirsty for water. ChatGPT gulps roughly a 16-ounce bottle in as few as 10 queries, calculates Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside, and his colleagues.
The increasing consumption of energy and water by AI has raised concerns in California and around the globe. Experts have detailed how it could stall the transition to green energy, while increasing consumer’s electric bills and the risk of blackouts.
Not all of Google’s AI-generated answers have been correct, including when it told a user to add Elmer’s glue to pizza sauce to keep cheese from sliding off the crust.
But searchers who don’t want those AI-generated answers or want to avoid the extra use of power and water can’t turn off the feature.
“Right now, the user doesn’t have the option to opt out,” Ren said.