What about the environment?

This line eventually get's spoken during AI conversations and we’re suddenly deep and responsible. Except much of the time it's a vibes-based opinion with zero homework behind it.

AI does chew through energy and water. The Math:

🌎 A single ChatGPT query is about 5x more electricity than a Google search.

🌍 Training a model like GPT-3? That’s roughly the annual energy use of 130 homes.

🌍 Each 10–50 responses uses a bottle's worth of water for cooling.

Multiply that by billions of queries and suddenly the math is mathing hard.

Even the tech giants are quietly admitting their emissions are rising, nudging climate commitments into uncomfortable territory.

What makes this conversation worth having, AI isn’t just a resource hog. It’s also one of the tools we’ve got to fight climate change.

It can help by:

🔸 Modelling extreme weather risks

🔸 Optimising resource use

🔸 Forecasting energy demand

The same tech that strains the grid can help rebuild it smarter. What are you doing with the part you control?

🔸 Measure your emissions including the AI you use.

🔸 Choose efficient models instead of defaulting to the biggest ones.

🔸 Work with vendors who run on renewable or carbon-free energy, many publish their numbers if you look.

🔸 Include climate impact into your AI governance

🔸 Build a culture where teams understand the cost of every quick question to the model.

Awareness. AI’s environmental impact is complex, inconvenient and full of possibility.

Reference: https://lnkd.in/gQSq-2S7